Aurea Mors
by Patriot-112
Summary: She was told she was only a product of Human DNA, a weapon for defeating humanity's enemies. The scientist maybe cruel, but unfortunately his words held truth. She sadly knew, they'll never accept her, not as a human, nor as their daughter. T borderline M.
1. Prologue

**Patriot-112: Another RWBY idea of mine. This time the main focal character is a pure OC of mine. I know I promised a Jaune Arc fic, but this idea suddenly bashed it's way into my head, so... anyway, let's begin. Also, all rights belong to RoosterTeeth, enough said.**

* * *

 _ **Prologue:**_

 _ **The Maiden**_

* * *

 _"You understand what you have to do?"_

 _"Yes, Lady Blaze,"_

 _"Repeat it to me,"_

 _"Dismantle the White Fang, piece by piece. Eliminate any Grimm that I see. Protect the individuals under the designations RWBY and JNPR. Eliminate the following individuals: Adam Taurus, Mercury Black, Emerald Sustrai, Cinder Fall, and finally, the Grimm Queen Salem,"_

 _"What are you to do, when seen?"_

 _"Evade capture as much as possible,"_

 _"What are you to do when cornered?,"_

 _"Fight back 'til I'm free,"_

 _"What will you do when captured?"_

 _"...End it, if no avenue of escape is available,"_

 _"...And what will you do, when all objectives are achieved?"_

 _"I...choose what I deem satisfactory"_

 _"You're taking a big step into a larger world child. You were well trained in the sword, your shield, and your semblance, but never let cockiness rule you. You will feel conflicted in your choices, but in the end, you will achieve victory...from this point on, until you die... you are Doré Arkos,"_

* * *

 _ **Docks of Vale**_

* * *

The shipping docks of Vale were quiet as a large assortment of Dust containers of the Schnee Dust Company lie in wait for the trucks that would take them to warehouse in downtown Vale. Normally, this much Dust would require a large amount of security guards to protect from thieves...but for some odd reason, there were no sign of any guards of the SDC anywhere, nor any Atlas soldiers, or local dock guards.

This was noted by an individual who was watching from the roof of a warehouse. It was a woman by the shape of their figure, clad in what looked to be to a dark yellow combat dress, with a steel breastplate, gauntlets that covered the entire forearm, and, under the hem of the dress, full articulate leg armor.

The physical features that could be seen, where her pale white skin, and golden blonde hair which was secured into a lace braid sock bun, tied off by a red ribbon. Her face on the other hand, while half hidden, only from her mouth down was seen, the rest was obscured by a visor style mask, which was colored red with gold vine plant design, which did well to hide her eyes.

Another thing to note, were the weapons she was carrying. On her back, was a bronze plated round shield which at one part, had the noticeable end of a gun barrel, while at her side, was a classical longsword, which was well crafted, and looked sharp enough to cut through the toughest metal.

The eyes of the masked woman narrowed as she looked at the shipping dock.

"You'd think the SDC would have, at least, a few dozen guards protecting their most valuable product," she said, while sighing in exasperation, "My expectations of the Schnee family are starting to deteriorate further rather rapidly."

" **It is likely 50 percent possible that A. the SDC is extremely incompetent when it comes to their security**." Said a computerized monotone voice, " **Or B. someone in the higher echelons of the company is bribing the guards not to be here tonight.** "

"Or both...," said the woman, just as she heard the sound of jet engines overhead and spotted a Bullhead VTOL flying about the docks before it descended and landed on the clear space of the dock. "...and right on time. Just as Lady Blaze said,"

" **Are you...alright**?" the voice said worriedly at the woman's depressed tone.

"I'll be fine," The woman said, "Let's get on with it, shall we? Wouldn't want to keep our target waiting..."

* * *

Roman Torchwick.

Thief, crime boss, and egotistical ass, was leading one of his biggest heists yet, which was stealing containers of Dust owned by the infamous SDC, from the Vale shipping docks. He was told by his contact that the containers will be out in the open, and unguarded, thanks to a little...persuasion on their part.

Of course, they could've of least given him better help than these supremacist morons from the White Fang. Sure, they had senses any Human would kill to have, since the White Fang are entirely made up of the Faunus race, but they were just so. DAMN. DUMB!

 _'Sigh, why the heck did that chick give me these animals to use for this job?_ ' he thought to himself, after he just berated a White Fang member with a tow cable, who can't tell the difference between his ass and head. However his thoughts were interrupted as a blade was placed dangerously close to his throat.

"What the!? Oh, for the love of-"

"Don't move!" ordered the person, a young woman wearing a gothic style outfit with some inklings of a ninja. Her hair was long and black as night, yellow cat like eyes, and was wearing a black bow at the top of her head.

"Whoa, easy there little lady," said Torchwick, just as the White Fang noticed the unexpected guest as readied their weapons. The young girl then untied the bow, and removed it, revealing a pair of cat ears that showed she was a faunus, which surprised the other Faunus.

"Brothers of the White Fang!" Blake Belladonna shouted for everyone of her fellow Faunus to hear, "Why are you aiding this scum?"

As the Faunus became slightly hesitant, a new voice was heard.

"They're aiding him, because they have no choice."

Everyone turned to the source of the voice, and on top of a shipping container, and with the shattered moon of Remnant behind her, was the woman. The illumination from the moonlight, made the sight of her appear to be like she was another being.

"Unfortunately, that doesn't excuse them of the other crimes they committed," she finished as she drew the blade in her left hand and slipped the shield onto her right arm. "And they must be punished,"

Roman's eyes along with the White Fang grunts all widened at the newcomer. This didn't go unnoticed by Blake.

"Oh, come on!" the crime lord shouted, " _You_ again!?"

The woman's mouth curled into a smirk at the man's outburst.

"If I can't mess up your current boss' big plan for this city, who will?" she said, making Blake blink at that, while Roman's eyes widened even further.

"Wait, wha!?"

"That's for me to know, and for you to never know," the armored woman said, just as the sound of more Bullhead VTOLs were heard as they flew over the dockyard. "Now then..."

With that, she threw her shield arm around, launching the metal disc like a missile which hit the jet of one VTOL, but then the shield came around and took out the other engine, causing the aircraft to crash to the ground.

Everyone's eyes widened at that, including Blake's, until Roman used Melodic Cudgel to blast the ground in front of the cat Faunus, sending her flying, and then turned to the Grunts.

"Well, what are you waiting for!?" he shouted while pointing at the woman who destroyed the Bullhead, "Kill her!"

The White Fang wasted no time as they either shot at the woman or charged at her with their swords. The woman jumped from the top of the container, her shield, emblazoned with a crescent moon and spear, blocking the dust bullets being fired at her, and landed on the ground before charging at the grunts.

"HAAAAHHHH!"

With a quick swipe of her longsword as she cleaved one Faunus' head off in one sweep, before nimbly dodging another attack and stabbing another in the gut. She kicked the corpse off her blade, before jumping and cork screwing over a attempted stab from another, before she delivered a strong kick to his head.

After landing on the ground, she heard the sounds of guns cocking and turned to a group of White Fang who all aimed their guns at her. But then she threw her shield at them, the round disc hitting them all in the head, while bouncing off them like a pinball machine, knocking them out, and then it returned to her like a boomerang.

Watching this from a lamp post, a blonde haired monkey Faunus could only look on in astonishment.

"Whoa! Okay, that's badass!" Sun shouted, as he joined the fray, as he used his signature weapon to fight Torchwick.

"Oh, fucking Oum, why won't you piss off!" Torchwick, contrary to popular belief, was actually once a huntsman. Of course, that was decades ago, when he wasn't jaded and decided crime paid better.

He was beginning to think that was a very bad idea, as while he was holding the two off, they were getting VERY close to taking his head off.

Both of them.

He's just glad the mysterious knight lady is busy dealing with the White Fang, to focus on him at the moment. However, that didn't mean he was scared of her.

Eventually, he got away before he heard a familiar voice. "HEY!"

"Goddamn it, not her." He looked to a rooftop, finding little red scythle there, cloak flowing as she spun the weapon around before the blade hit the rooftop.

"Oh, hey Red! Isn't it past your-SON OF A BITCH!" Blake's sheath nearly took off the man's head, forcing him to duck.

"Pay attention to me, scum!" the Cat Faunus shouted as she used Gambol Shroud's pistol form to fire a barrage of dust rounds at the thief.

"If that blade had connected, I would've been VERY upset!" Roman growled, because let's face it, NO MAN wants their junk cut off.

The White Fang idiots finally fell to the ground, some dead, others simply humiliated.

VERY humiliated.

"Killing you is optional. But I don't see any reason not to." The knight made her approach, causing alarms to go off in Roman's brain like Stuka sirens.

A rather distinct sound that signalled fear and an urge to RUN THE FUCK AWAY. So he did, to one of the only remaining Bullhead VTOLs. All the while, a certain copper haired girl was destroying the other two Bullheads he brought along, via a green laser beam of DOOM.

"Okay, these kids are just getting weirder and WEIRDER! Plus more scary..." he said as he closed the hatch and the transport took off.

The woman seeing the thief take off, now decided it was time to leave.

Torchwick was an annoyance at best. Killing him wouldn't change anything, and he was more useful afraid.

After all, she had her mission, and him interfering with Teams RWBY and...JNPR...would cause more problems than she needed. So, after securing her weapons, she proceeded to run to the edge of the dock and jumped into the water, swimming the hell away.

Thank Oum her armor is made up of a lightweight, and water proofed alloy.

* * *

 _"I don't care what you're offering me. Besides your head on a pike. I will not give you shit."_

 _"I need you to help me because we now share a common enemy Sapiens."_

 _"Oh, you mean to tell me your Grimm Queen Bitch finally turned on you. Well boo hoo for you, that's what you get working with people with a devil/doomsday complex."_

 _"What I have planned will be beneficial for both of us!"_

 _"And what exactly do you want? I'm not in a position to give anything."_

 _"I know what you can do. All you need is blood, or a hair sample. Anything containing DNA."_

 _"I'll still need a second donor. A clone wouldn't live past its' birth having only 80% of its' genes."_

 _"I have a pair in mind. This will work and everything I've caused will be undone."_

 _"You're serious. Fine. But once this is done, I will kill you for all the shit you've caused me."_

 _"I can do that."_

* * *

 _"Are these my...?"_

 _"Yes... these are your parents, my dear girl,"_

 _"And...you're saying that they're..."_

 _"They've been dead for years. Your mother died a martyr, even though she didn't have to, while your father died in a quest to avenge her,"_

 _"...would they...would they have loved me? Even though I'm..."_

 _"Perhaps. I didn't know them personally."_

 _"Stop filling her head with fairy tales. She's a binary clone that you ordered me to create. I'm surprised you're actually getting attached, cunt that you are."_

 _"She needs to know who and where she comes from! She may be a clone, but that doesn't change the fact she's still human!"_

 _"Even though you were the- AHH!"_

 _"If you even DARE finish that sentence...!"_

 _"You...still...need me...you fucking whore..."_

 _"GAH! Be lucky you still are needed, you fucking mad scientist!"_

 _"Luck? No. Necessity. You need me to make sure she reaches maturity without deforming, and you need me to train her."_

 _"I know that... But she will still have her humanity intact."_

 _"Whatever you say. But let me ask you something. Why didn't you just leave?"_

 _"What?"_

 _"Why didn't you just leave when you got what you wanted at Beacon? You injured that girl so she wouldn't chase after you again, you didn't have to shoot her in the fucking chest and then burn her body to ash."_

 _"I was a fool and too stupid and blind to think, only reveling in my new-found power."_

 _"...You deserve to die, and once this is over...you will. You can't put up a fight against me anymore. Not that you could in the first place."_

* * *

She coughed as she got out of the water. Her armored dress was soaked, and heavy as she pulled herself out onto the pier, far away from the SDC dock that was now crawling with VPD.

"Damn cops are slow," the woman growled out, "What good are they if they're too lazy to get here in time."

Her head turned only to find a mixed bunch of people. A boy with black hair in a green outfit, a girl with orange hair and a white battle dress...

Her eyes widened when she spotted the other two. A blonde boy in white armor over a black hooded sweatshirt with a sheathed sword on his waist, and a redheaded woman with Spartan-like armor.

It was them. Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Nikos.

And they were looking straight at her!

She was fortunate her mask was still on, otherwise they would've seen her eyes wide in both fear and longing. She immediately began to stand back up as she turned to run away, but her soaked armored dress wasn't helping matters. Not to mention the energy she used up from swimming.

"Shit!" she cursed, "Why now?"

Her situation was made worse she heard one of them speak up.

"Hey, who's that?"

She finally got to her feet as she began running. She couldn't see them. The scientist was right: they would see an abomination, a perversion of their blood.

She was just a clone, a weapon he made to kill the enemies of humanity. He was cruel, but truthful. And he was always right.

 _'They won't see you as_ human _. You're a_ product _of human DNA, but that's it. All you are is your maternal_ donor's _semblance and body and your paternal_ donor's _hair and aura reserves. You are a_ weapon _._ Never _forget that. NEVER FORGET, LITTLE KNIFE!'_

Those words kept ringing in her head as she continued to run, not noticing the group chasing after her. Tears began to leak out of her eyes, as she desperately tried to get away.

"Gotta get away...Gotta get away," she kept repeating. However, in her rush to get away she didn't notice the simple pipe that laid in front of her.

She tripped, and her head slammed into the concrete. And unlike last time, she hit her head hard enough to knock her out.

She drifted in and out of consciousness, catching sight of Nora Valkyrie's face as she felt her mask come off.

"HOLY PANCAKES! She looks like Pyrrha!"

Her head throbbed, as she tried to move, but unfortunately, for some reason or another, her body refused to cooperate.

"Whoa crap! She's right!" she heard another voice say, "Only...she has blonde hair,"

She was ready to die. But she didn't.

She just fell unconscious.

* * *

The loud footfalls of a suited man were heard as a mercenary commander entered Beacon Academy's halls. The man's armor hinted at a man that would tear apart a Grimm with his bare hands.

And he had.

Ozpin owed him for this. Vale's council wanted to talk to him for security, and the old man wanted to talk to him personally afterward. While he believed that continuing training hunters was outdated, he still respected the old coot enough, where he doesn't try to sugar coat and bullshit him.

He finally arrived at the meeting room where the Vale Council was preceding, and the three people looked to him.

"General Kylos." one of the councilors greeted, and the man nodded.

"I'm a busy man, Councilors." the man said flatly, "Get to the point quickly. The Allfathers have a meeting in two and a half hours, and I'm one of them."

"Very well. We've had a major crime wave recently, and your forces can help divert resources from the Grimm threat to deploy hunters to assist the police." FINALLY, a major contract that would prove that the days of the hunters were over.

"I'll expect payment on a monthly basis. 500K lien. A drop in the bucket compared to Beacon's funding." He said, and the woman councilor nodded.

"That's reasonable, General," she said, "And while you're doing the contract, we also decided it was in our best interest to inform you that the bounty for Roman Torchwick has doubled. And since he was spotted at most of these robberies...we thought it best if you were informed..."

Kylos nodded at that, "At least we'll get a good bonus out of this,"

The man's helmet comm activated, and he told Sovereign to send a force of Ravens to Vale. They had a contract. Now to deal with Ozpin.

He mused about the bastard as he left, heading for Beacon. Ozpin and he had clashed on several occasions, with Ozpin barely coming out on top. But he never suffered injury thanks to his specially designed armor. The Gears were trained to kill hunters.

"If that is all Councilors, I will take my leave," he said, and the Councilors nodded, before one fo them spoke.

"One more thing, General. During the duration of this contract, we advise you give Professor Ozpin and General Ironwood your full cooperation," the man said, "Despite your concerns, and the advancements in technology, Hunters are still needed as long as the weapons they wield are upgraded."

Kylos only smirked, which wasn't seen by the council.

"Those days will end sooner than you think."

* * *

The General entered Ozpin's office, decked out in his battle armor. "Professor Ozpin."

The gray-haired man smiled. "Sapiens. Welcome."

"Never call me by my first name, artifact." the man growled, "Why the hell did you call me here; I have better things to do then entertain the last generation of your kind."

The Headmaster sighed at the man's bluntness.

"I need your help with something." he said honestly, "Several of my students have found someone...unique."

The General blinked at that.

"Unique as in...how?" he asked, and the Wizard took out his scroll and placed it on his holo-table. After pressing a button, the image of a young woman, probably a teen wearing a set of armor from possibly the old days but looked more modern, was laid on a bed with a bandage on her head. While her eyes were closed, Sapiens took note of the blonde hair, which had minor red highlights.

"Pyrrha Nikos with a dye job. So?"

"Pyrrha Nikos is actually on her way up. And you know better." The elevator doors opened, and in came the girl in question. Sapiens studied her hair for signs of damage associated with hair dye.

He found none, though she was intimidated by his presence.

Good. She should know she was of a dying breed. Soon the Gears would replace the hunters.

"Headmaster...who is this?" the girl said, slightly on edge.

"This is General Sapiens Kylos, commander of the Gears of War. Recently, Vale has hired their services as a security force to assist-"

"Stop bullshiting, Ozpin." Sapiens growled, "I'm here to do your job. Only better."

Ozpin could only sigh at the General's gruff attitude before turning back to the girl.

"So Pyrrha, I assume you know why we wanted to talk to you?" the headmaster said, and Pyrrha looked at the image of the girl they found. For some unknown reason, she felt a certain feeling to be with her. And she wasn't the only as her team leader and partner, Jaune, also felt the same. She nodding her head.

"Yes, it's about that girl," she said.

"Yes?" Ozpin said, as he motioned for her to continue.

"She's ...familiar." she said, with some slight uncertainty, "I'm not sure how-"

"That is why I called the General here." Ozpin interjected, "He is an expert in genetics, and should be able to identify her."

"Lead the way." Sapiens said, and Pyrrha nodded as she led him back to the elevator.

The doors shut, and Pyrrha tried to strike up a conversation with the general. "So...why don't you like Hunters?"

"Resources are wasted by your kind. It takes 15 _years_ to fully train _one_ of you. It takes 18 _months_ for a collection of Gears. And my recruits can kill a Goliath by themselves. Can you say the same?"

Pyrrha could only narrow her eyes slightly at that. She didn't like the way this man was clearly stating that Hunters were a waste of money. In her views, money was replaceable. Even though she was a celebrity, she didn't enjoy it that much. Both the money and the fame.

"For all the resources wasted by 150 huntsmen and huntresses, I can train thousands of Gears. Time and numbers. If done my way, the Grimm would have been extinct centuries ago. Instead, we cling to a tradition that should have died out." The doors opened, and Sapiens marched out, Pyrrha beginning to really hate the man. The trio walked to the room that the girl was in, and it didn't take long as they arrived, and Team JNPR was there, with Jaune near the bed. When the young man heard the door open, he stood up from the chair, along with the rest of the team, as they spotted their teammate, along with Ozpin and the general.

"Headmaster!" Jaune said.

"Children. This is General Sapiens Kylos of the Gears of War." The man's helmet came apart and retracted back into his backpack, revealing an old man's face.

"Your last generation of hunters, Ozpin." Sapiens said as he shook his head, "I'm disappointed. They would have made excellent Gears."

"Excuse me?" Ren said, not showing anything that he was insulted.

"He is of the belief that we are useless," Pyrrha said, while frowning, "Barely able to hold the line against the Grimm."

Sapiens scoffed as he pulled out a metal case, pulling out advanced medical equipment. "Seeing as you lost Mountain Glenn when we would have held and exterminated the Grimm, you're not exactly proving me wrong."

The Hunters-in-training, all felt insulted by that, and Nora looked ready to bash the old man's head in, but Ren stopped her.

"General, I highly suggest we put the clash of ideals aside for the moment." Ozpin said, while Sapiens removed the gauntlet on the girl's left arm.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," he said. He pulled out a needle and drew a small amount of blood before hooking a small medical computer into the school network, and injecting the blood into the device.

The blood was broken down, and quickly compared it to the entire population of the school and Vale.

Two matches were found. And everyone's eyes widened, especially two in particular, as the names and pictures of the two were shown:

Pyrrha Nikos, and Jaune Arc.

"What...the hell?" Jaune said in complete shock, while Pyrrha's hand went up to her mouth.

"Interesting." Sapiens said, as he looked at the results.

"That's all you have to say?!" Nora shouted, "Jaune and Pyrrha are parents!"

That caused the two to blush at that.

"She's sixteen years old: they're slightly older. She's not their child, not naturally." Sapiens stood tall, putting his equipment away. "She's a binary clone: their genetic material was used to make her. And unless I'm mistaken, this is MY work."

"What?!" Everyone shouted.

"The genetic code is too perfectly combined: no genetic drift associated with natural birth." Sapiens explained, "Only the Gears have access to that technology, and I have refused to use it."

Everyone looked to the girl, who still laid peacefully on the bed.

"Where exactly did you find her?" Sapiens ordered, and the Team immediately began how they found her at the pier, near the same location that the SDC heist was at, however, it was at this moment that a certain cat girl heard the commotion and looked inside, and upon seeing the girl and recognizing the armor, her eyes widened.

"Her?!" Sapiens pulled out his handgun, which was oversized and clearly powerful.

"Miss, you will leave. Now." the old man said, his voice showing he meant business.

"I was there when she fought the White Fang at the docks! Who is she?!" Blake demanded, before Sapiens pulled the trigger, sending a 50 caliber round shooting past her bow.

"Blake!" Pyrrha shouted in worry.

"Leave before the next round goes through your head." He said threateningly, "And these are aura-penetrating rounds: they WILL kill you."

"Sapiens, I would appreciate you NOT kill one of my students!" Ozpin said, and looked at the Faunus, "Miss Belladonna you said she was there. Explain to us, everything you saw."

Blake then recounted her personal mission in investigating the string of robberies that had been plaguing Vale, which led her to the docks, where she found out the White were truly behind the robberies but was concerned that they were working with Torchwick of all people, and then she explained how the woman turned up and how she fought them.

"Interesting."

"Are we done?" Sapiens said, "I have better things to do."

Ozpin glared at Sapiens. "Our problems are between US, General."

"Then I believe we need to settle them. Now." He pointed the gun at Ozpin, but the sound of a grenade launcher being cocked caught his attention.

Nora was pointing her launcher at him, with Ren and Pyrrha joining the fray, while Jaune had his sword ready.

"Idiots. I was trained to kill hunters. My armor's designed to survive anything. But you're right. I'll deal with you later."

He then put his gun away and turned to the girl on the bed.

"However, I'll probably send someone to pick her up," he said, "Need to keep an eye on her and if she proves too troublesome, we'll have to terminate her,"

That didn't sit well with the two young hunters.

"She is somehow the daughter of two of my students." Ozpin protested, "She is not going anywhere."

"My Gears will be in town, Headmaster." Sapiens insisted, "I WILL keep an eye on this little weapon."

Jaune and Pyrrha immediately felt an unexpected overprotectiveness for the girl lying not three feet from them.

"Weapon?" the Arc grounded out.

"She's genetically engineered." Sapiens stated, "That means she was meant to fight. Nothing more."

Pyrrha immediately switched Milo to Rifle form and aimed it at Sapiens' head.

"Touch her and I WILL hurt you." She growled out.

Sapiens actually took the threat seriously. "Really? I'll be entertained. I've killed bigger fish. Team STRQ were the only team that I actually feared, and even they couldn't get me when I was paid to kill them. Couldn't kill them, but the point remains. I am better than you. And I always will be."

"...N-No...," everyone gasped and turned to the bed as the bed and saw the girl with her eyes half opened, but they held a vicious glare. "You... _will not_...TOUCH THEM!"

With a thrust of her left hand, with black energy surrounding it, the General was slammed against the wall. Ozpin and Pyrrha's eyes widened, recognizing the Polarity semblance in an instant. And since the General was wearing metal armor, it sucked to be him.

"FUCK!"

He used the powered servos to point his handgun at her, but Blake jumped onto his arm, forcing him to abandon the attempt, but this wasn't over.

"Do not assume this is the end, Ozpin." He discharged his suit's magnetic field, allowing him to escape. "And you have all made a mistake."

As soon as he left, everyone's attention was on the girl, who looked ready to fall over, but not before looking at the people who could've been her parents if they had lived. The said students all looked at her, before she said two words.

"...M...Mama...P...Papa-," with that, eyes rolling back into her head, she fell to the side but was thankfully caught by the two. Pyrrha moved a strand of her hair out of her face, while Jaune held her, and saw the pained expression on the girl's face.

She was shivering, but it was not of coldness, but fear. She was afraid.

But of what?

* * *

Allfather Susan Goldsmith, at 64 years old, was one of the eldest of the Allfathers, and one of the five women to carry the title that went with the founders of the Gears of War. Like all members of the Gears, she rejected her old name, and chose one that reflected the old naming nomanclansure.

The Gears rejected the color naming rule, calling it limiting, and they chose their names post-founding.

And when Sapiens entered the Sovereign's conference room, he looked like hell.

"Sapiens?" the woman asked, as she and the others looked at the man in question, his armor looked bent to shit, and he was sporting a bleeding lip, "What happened to you?"

The man sighed as he took out his personal scroll.

"I've discovered a little something during my meeting with Ozpin," he said,

Jason Terrance, the second eldest Gear, just behind Sapiens, rose an eyebrow. "Like?"

"Some jackass decided to create a binary clone." said Sapiens, causing the eyes of the Allfathers to widen, "And of two hunters. She's trained in their art, as well as that of a Gear."

"Fuck! How? You locked down that shit years ago!"

"Meaning someone's been poking around. Allfathers, this is our chance to bring Remnant into a new age. A united Remnant, where the Grimm and race lines are a thing of the past. If we can make the Vale Council realize we are superior to the hunters, we can finally bring the coalition to life. A dream we have been working towards for 40 long years. For a united world!"

"But what of the clone?" said Susan, "And who were the donors?"

Sapiens then placed the scroll on the holotable and pressed the button, which showed a picture he managed to take of the girl, when she was awake, along with the pictures of Jaune and Pyrrha.

"Two hunter students. We can use this against Ozpin. After all, WE didn't make the clone, and Atlas agents have tried to steal our secrets so many times."

Sapiens was considered an ultranationalist, but he preferred the term unificationist. After all, four kingdoms needed to be united under one flag. This so-called peace era between the kingdoms was making them complacent and there were signs of discord between the pacifists and the so-called alarmists.

"Careful Sapiens," said another Allfather, "Your rivalry with Ozpin will come back to bite us, and it could possibly be your undoing."

"This isn't about Ozpin! Just because this bitch landed in his lap is a bonus! This is about our goal! We have a chance to finally depose the Hunter's Guild in one of the four major Kingdoms! Once we are their source of protection, we can finally kick those old bastards out. The old ways are dying, bleeding Remnant dry! That's why we founded the Gears: to change that! We MUST take advantage, or it will take another 40 years before we have our chance again! WHO IS WITH ME?!"

The Allfathers looked at each other before they all nodded.

"Alright Sapiens, we'll follow your lead," Susan said, "but if this begins to turn into a blood bathe we're pulling out. You DO remember what happened to the Wolfwatch?"

The Wolfwatch were a paramilitary organization who tried the same thing the same thing the Gears were trying to do... only they failed and most of their members either went into hiding or now work as freelance mercenaries.

"We will not make that mistake. We have watched. We have waited. And we will only act when we are READY. That time approaches. But you are right to caution. If this backfires, the Gears will break. But it will not backfire."

"You haven't failed us yet."

"And I do not intend to fail us now!"

* * *

 _"Lady Blaze?"_

 _"Before you go Doré, I have one more thing to give you,"_

 _"Th...This is...,"_

 _"It was your mother's. I have no doubt that she would've wanted you to have it."_

 _"Thank... Thank you,"_

 _"Listen to me. No matter what Sapiens says, clone or not, you're still a human, and Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Nikos are your parents. Do you want to know why I gave you the surname Arkos?"_

 _"Yes."_

 _"Because it is their names. Arc and Nikos combined. You are their child. Do not forget this."_

 _"I won't. But-"_

 _"Tune him out. He's a bitter old man because I denied him his greatest wish."_

 _"..."_

 _"You'll find out in due time. Also, remember what I said about the powers."_

 _"They're to be used wisely, and to be used in the dire of circumstances,"_

 _"Yes...good luck my dear. And remember..."_

 _"The Aura is with me,"_

* * *

Doré opened her eyes. She was in a medical wing, clearly better maintained than anywhere she had been, even on board the GNS Sovereign, the carrier flagship of the Gears.

Of course, that was a ship on WATER, and the Gears never took off their suits.

What few of them were left, anyways. Blaze said Cinder had helped wipe out the Gears, though they did not go down easily. It took hundreds of Grimm to kill the trainees one on one, with the seasoned Gears taking more powerful Grimm to kill before the Allfathers, the greatest Gears of all, could be killed.

It took millions, if not billions of Grimm before the Gears were reduced to nothing more than a few demoralized men and one bitter, angry bastard.

She grunted before she attempted to sit up, only for her to realize a hand was on hers. She turned and her eyes widened at who was next to her.

It was Pyrrha. Her mother.

 _'No, she's not my mother. She's my donor. ...I need to get out of here!_ '

In case you hadn't noticed, Dore is just as bad as Shinji Ikari: problem is, Shinji tried to summon the courage to face his fears. Dore isn't. Over a decade of being told by a man who could kill you and your mentor like you were nothing did that. She quickly looked around, glad that her armor was still on her, and soon spotted her sword and shield.

 _'Aurea Mors!_ ' she thought in her head happily, glad to know that her weapons were still here. Lady Blaze had the sword forged from the remains of both her donors' respective weapons, Crocea Mors and Milo, while the shield is a modified variant of Akouo, which has a SMG built into it, with the grip of the gun acting as the handle of the shield. She carefully removed Pyrrha's hand from her own, and got off the bed, and headed over and placed her weapons back on her person. She even took special care of a pouch on her belt.

She looked back to the bed and saw the redhead sleeping. She felt the need to say goodbye to her, but she really HATED saying that word. She shook her head, having no time.

And she had to escape.

Staying here wouldn't help her mission. And if the Gears caught her, they wouldn't let her live.

After all, Sapiens mistreated her.

The girl quietly left the room, but getting out of Beacon wasn't going to be easy.

Team JNPR wouldn't let her go without a fight, and Team RWBY...Blaze said to avoid them. Especially Ruby Rose.

She calmly began walking down the hall of the doing her best to avoid any medical staff. Even with the clinking of her armored boots and leggings, she was still undetected. Training with people who wore armor their whole lives was a boost. She finally made it to one of the side exits, and opened the door, however, as soon as she opened the door, the alarm sounded.

"DAMMIT!" she shouted and bolted out.

If she was thankful to Pyrrha for anything, it was her body build: she was fast. Really fast. But not fast enough, as she caught Weiss Schnee, one of the two respectable Schnees of her generation (Winter was military, and cared little for race as such) looking at her as she rounded a corner.

As she was trained as a Gear, she learned to curse like one, and used one of Sapiens' favorites. "Oh, fuckery!" She ran down another corridor before the rest of Team RWBY joined the chase.

"She went down here!" The Heiress shouted.

"Let's get her before she gets to the docks!" Yang Xiao Long shouted, and the quartet went after her.

Dore continued to run as she zipped through the corridors, dodging students, and faculty staff alike. She was unfortunately spotted by Professor Oobleck, the 'caffeine addicted moron' as Sapiens affectionately called him.

"Young lady!" She leaned forward, doing what the Gears called a 'roady run': it increased her speed and kept her head down as she ran out of the building before she blind fired her shield SMG, which forced RWBY to take cover.

A Gear she was trained as, and she knew how to fight Hunters. She finally made it outside, and saw the courtyard, and beyond that, the docks. She was almost home free, especially since she saw a Bullhead begin to land on a dock. Wasting no time she increased her speed, running as fast as her legs carried her.

 _'Almost there! Almost there! ALMOST THERE!_ ' she repeated constantly in her head. Praying she will get there in time.

Her footing was lost almost instantly.

"FUCKERY!" Glynda goddamn Goodwitch! WHY did it have to be her?!

She opened fire with the SMG, putting rounds downrange, Glynda trying to deflect them with her own shield, which blocked the dust bullets. But unfortunately was forced to let Dore, who continued her dash toward the Bullhead.

She smiled knowing she was almost out. But then she felt something metal and smash into the armor plating of her back which sent her flying and landing in a heap.

The hit and the landing made her lose her grip on her shield, and caused her to gasp in pain. The landing also caused her blonde hair to come out of it's bun.

"AHH! Shit!" Dore cursed as she tried to get up again, only for something or someone to grab onto and held her down.

"Don't run! We're trying to help you!"

Dore's attempts to flee only got worse as she heard Pyrrha's voice, knowing she was the one holding onto her.

She couldn't stay. She HAD to get away!

"Please!" Doré actually begged, "Let me go!"

"Don't move!" Pyrrha pleaded to her, "We won't hurt you! I promise!"

"Miss Nikos! Hold her still!" she heard Glynda's voice, "I'm going to give her a sedative to calm her down,"

"No...STOP! You don't understand!" Doré screamed desperately, as she heard more footsteps, and felt more people grabbing onto her to keep her still, "I need to leave! My mission!"

"Grab her!" Doré tried to make them get off before a needle found its' way into her neck, sedatives entering her bloodstream. Unconsciousness beaconed, and she was in no position to resist its' call.

"Okay, what the hell is going on?" said Yang, as Pyrrha and Jaune gently move Dore onto her back. "Who is this girl and why are you guys-?"

" **I believe I can answer that question** ," everyone, except the two 'parents' of the clone, jumped at that.

"Who said that!?" Weiss shouted.

Nora rifled through her pockets, finding a scroll.

Unlike theirs, it was stark and almost military, the only decoration being an eight-sided cog with a skull inside it.

Pyrrha's eyes narrowed: that was the Crimson Omen, emblem of the Gears, so called because it was claimed the original was made from the blood of the Allfathers.

Her scroll was Gear-issue and she was a binary clone made using Gear technology. Who WAS she?

Nora then opened the scroll and a holographic image of an Teal colored AK-130 appeared.

" **Greetings, I am G.A.I. Model # 1436-7921, Advisor. But you may call me Anders** ,"

"You're a Gears AI?"

" **I was programmed by General Sapiens Kylos, Allfather Prime. However, my programming was altered by a woman in a mask, so my loyalties to the Gears of War no longer exist. Doré Arkos is my mistress now**."

Nora's grin returned as she heard the surname. She nearly spoke up before Anders ruined her day.

" **My storage device is designed to cause extreme pain if I deem it necessary. Keep your thoughts to yourself, please**."

"Oh, and what if I say-" The scroll activated, electrical energy arcing through her body before she started having a seizure.

" **The Gears developed anti-aura technology 14 years after the end of the World War. This was designed to counteract and turn a Hunter's semblance against them**."

"N-No...fair," Nora managed to utter out before she collapsed, dropping the scroll which was caught by Pyrrha.

"You said her name is Doré?" Pyrrha said, and she saw the A.I. nod.

" **Yes, that is the name her mentor gave her** ," the construct said, " **However, I believe we need to get indoors, there could be Gear agents in the premises. I suggest we go to Professor Ozpin's office. There is critical information I need to deliver to him as well**."

"And why exactly should we trust a Gears AI?"

" **My mistress' mission is rather important, and I am familiar with Gear operations. In fact, as of this moment, 5 Royal Raven-Class helicopters are inbound from GVS Sovereign**."

The young Hunters-in-training, and Professor's eyes widen.

"Well, that's enough incentive for me!" Jaune said, as he, with Pyrrha's help, lifted the limp _Doré_ into his arms bridal style. "Let's get going!"

With that, the two teams and one teacher ran for the main campus.

* * *

The contra rotational helicopters flew over Beacon, their quad rotors loudly sending air down on the school's roof before they dropped fully armed Gears into the Emerald Forest.

While helicopters were a known technology, they were almost never used, excepting of course, by the Gears, who used the King Raven and Royal Raven, the former of which was a smaller, dual-rotor version of the Royal.

Ozpin knew better then to assume that the Bullheads could take on the heavily armored choppers: they were actual VTOLs with military-grade armaments. Bullheads can be modified to carry weapons, but they were transports first, gunships second.

The elevator opened as Glynda, along with Team RWBY and JNPR, and Dore entered the office. The said girl in the Arc's arms.

"Place her on the sofa if you please, Mr. Arc," Ozpin said, and Jaune did exactly that, Pyrrha and the rest walking along.

"Miss Nikos, the scroll," the Headmaster said, and the Spartan nodded as she handed the Gears scroll to him.

The scroll activated, and Anders reappeared. "Headmaster Ozpin."

"I'm quite surprised the Gears would let her have one of their prized AIs. They guard their technology almost zealously."

" **The circumstances were beyond the Gears' control, Headmaster, as you will learn**."

The Headmaster raised a brow at that, "Well then, what do you have to tell me?" he asked. The A.I. nodded at that.

 **"Accessing personal log of subject: Lady Blaze** ," he announced, and soon the image of a woman wearing a red trench coat, and wearing a full face mask appeared.

" _If you're watching this message, then either Doré is dead or she's in the care of Ozpin. I won't bother with a long, drawn out philosophical debate and just say this: Ozpin, you bastard, you were right. And I had to make a deal with the devil to undo my mistakes. The devil is someone you know: the Gears of War. Thankfully, the Grimm have bled them dry, and Sapiens had no choice but to agree to my terms_."

Everyone blinked at that, until the woman, Lady Blaze, continued.

" _If you found out already, or haven't, then let me tell you. Doré is a clone of Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Nikos, but, the kicker is, she's not from this time,_ **"** she said, making the people gathered widen their eyes **, "** _Doré was born, 13 years from the point after the 40th Vytal Festival took place... it ended disastrously, because of me,"_

She pulled up an image. " _Cinder Fall, Emerald Sustrai and Emerald Black orchestrated the fall of Vale. Tighten security around the CCT towers: the AI has a protocol that will counteract the virus she will attempt to upload if you can't stop her from getting inside. Which, knowing her...knowing me...she will. Do NOT tell her my real name."_

Ozpin shook his head. Cinder Fall had a change of heart?

" _And a word of caution:_ _Doré_ _is suffering a side effect of the cloning process, in which she has memory flashes from the donors when she sleeps. They've been helpful in her training, but there are also... unpleasant memories. She even feels the phantom pains they suffered_."

Both of the 'donors' winced, mostly Pyrrha. " _And there is the...other problem. Sapiens refused to see her as human, only a weapon he could use to avenge his precious Gears. And despite my best efforts, she sees herself as less than human. I make only one request, beyond not interfering in her mission_."

Her eyes narrowed behind the mask. " _Make that bastard pay for it_."

They begin hearing whimpering coming from the sedated girl.

"N...No...please...," she gasped out, "You...already... have what you... came for... Don't do it... Don't do it!"

"Do what?"

" **For clarification: Pyrrha Nikos was killed during the Fall of Beacon,"** Anders said, causing the two mention hunters to look at the A.I. in shock, with said redhead paling in horror **,** " **Sapiens, in Lady Blaze's words, was a cruel bastard. She frequently relives the day Pyrrha died. The man developed a vindictive in his old age**."

Ozpin's dislike of Sapiens grew. The Allfather clearly didn't know the difference between necessary pain and cruelty.

Pyrrha and Jaune immediately went to Doré's side, who was still whimpering.

"No... Mother... No!" as she was talking, her hand slowly rose up right in front of the Spartan champion.

Driven by emotion... and motherly instinct, she gripped it, holding her hand in comfort.

" **All** **the information you need on Salem and her pawns is inside. Unfortunately, this means, Ozpin, you will have to drag RWBY and JNPR into this. Force the Gears to fight the Grimm while you plot to save humanity from that queen. That is all. Good luck**."

The message ended as everyone looked to the sofa, as Pyrrha continued to try and comfort _Doré_ who by now had tears coming out of her eyes.

"Shh, it's okay, Doré," the champion whispered, "It's okay..."

"Professor Ozpin," Jaune spoke up, his hand still placed on Doré's head, "Forgive me in advance, but I don't want that bastard anywhere near her,"

"Seeing what he did to her, I agree. But the Gears are in Vale now." Ozpin always treated his war with Salem like a chess match.

The Gears of War added a third player to the table. This was only going to end badly.

* * *

 **Patriot-112** : And the beginning of a new RWBY fic. I could call this my third one, alongside my Warning from the Future, and my currently, in the works, Jaune Arc project.

 **Ron the True Fan** : And introducing the Gears of War, based, of course, on the heroic Gears from the series of the same name, but these Gears are not on Ozpin's side, as you've noticed.

 **Patriot-112** : Yup, and let's just say, they're gonna cause some VERY big problems for our heroes.

 **Ron the True Fan** : They already HAVE. But that's for later.

 **Patriot-112** : Right, so, until next time! Oh, and before I forget...Profiles!

* * *

 **Name** : Doré Arkos

 **Age** : 17

 **Gender** : Female

 **Race** : Human (Clone)

 **Eye Color** : Emerald green

 **Hair Color/style** : Blonde with red highlights/mid back length/braided bun

 **Build** : Athletic/Toned

 **Semblance** : Polarity

 **Birth** : 13 years after the Fall of Beacon

 **Also Known as** : The Golden Rogue; The Maiden Knight

 **Personality** : Calm and Collected, is hesitant in making friends. Suffers from internal grief due to the belief that she is just a mere clone of Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Nikos, and will never be seen as their daughter.

 **Weapon** : Aurea Mors (Sword and Shield SMG combo, former based on Caliburn, while shield is based on Akouo but with Doré's personal emblem carved on the face.)

 **Bio** : Born 13 years after the Fall of Beacon, and three years after the end of the Salem War, Doré Arkos is the clone daughter of the late Huntsman and Huntress partners: Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Nikos. She was raised by a reformed Cinder Fall, who under a different name, and wearing a mask, trained her extensively since she was seven to kill her past self, and her former mistress Salem, who had betrayed her. She is sent back to the past, however she has difficulty accepting who, or what she is, believing herself to be an abomination. And thus, she believes, her death will make them happy.

 **Appearance** : Maiden Alter Ego: Saber from Fate/Zero, blue part of outfit is colored white, wears a Saber Alter style mask to hide half of her face, and eyes. Unmasked: Looks like a blonde haired Pyrrha.

* * *

 **Name** : Sapiens

 **Age** : 68 as of RWBY S3, 93 as of alternate future

 **Race** : Human

 **Gender** : Male

 **Eye Color** : aquamarine

 **Hair Color/style** : graying black-blonde; short balding

 **Build** : semi-overweight/athletic with a slight gut

 **Semblance** : none recorded

 **Birth** : Vytal

 **Also Known as** : fucking mad scientist, Sapiens Kylos

 **Personality** : Serious, moderately insane, supergenius, intolerant of stupidity

 **Weapon** : Lancer assault rifle Mk 2 (7.5mmx75mm caliber AR-15 pattern long rifle w/chainsaw bayonet) multiple other weapons

 **Bio** : The most intelligent man on Remnant, Sapiens is a skilled warrior, having served as a mercenary using a uniquely designed assault rifle he designed to operate against Grimm and human targets. Innovations he is responsible for include time displacement technology, cloning and AI, to name a few. While old and having never used his semblance, he is still deadly in combat, having trained multiple mercenaries in the art of the Lancer, and in more traditional combat arts. He believes that Hunters are inefficient compared to his elite mercenaries, the Gears of War, as it takes 15 years to train a Hunter compared to the 18 months for basic Gear training.

Appearance: out of combat, slacks with dress shoes and white lab coat over a simple shirt; in-combat, COG-issue Gears armor, semi-powered, Carmine variant

* * *

 **Patriot-112** : And done! Until next time folks! Later!


	2. Chapter 1: Enemies and Family

**Patriot-112: Hey Everyone! You're probably wondering what happened when I temporarily took down Aurea Mors earlier . Well the thing is, I couldn't see your reviews. Probably a glitch in the system. But the good news is I brought it back up. But if this problem persists, I advise PMing me your reviews. Remember, constructive criticism, no Trolling or your messages will be removed.**

 **And yes to all you Ozpin haters, I know you see Ozpin is pulling a Dumbledore, but that doesn't excuse the fact that he still cares about his students, and regrets the sacrifices he has to make, like any smart commander and strategist does. In my point of view, he's neither Dark nor light, but more of a grey. Balance, is the key. Now enough about that, let's begin.**

 **P.S. Dore's name is French, which means Golden, and is pronounced Doo-rey. Got it? Good.**

* * *

 _ **Chapter 1:**_

 _ **Enemies and Family**_

* * *

 _ **One Hour after failed Heist.**_

* * *

Roman walked into the abandoned warehouse, grumbling after the colossal failure to steal the SDC Dust shipment at the docks. And it was all thanks to a bunch of brats, and that damned masked woman, who was making quite a vigilante-esque reputation as the Maiden Knight. It all started just shortly a week after he met Cinder. And every time he, and whoever was with him, went out to steal Dust, that bitch appeared and ruined it, making his success streak suffer terribly.

And this biggest possible score was yet another disaster added to the list.

He sighed as he put the Dust crystal case on the wooden table in front of him, and placed Melodic Cudgel next to it.

"Man, what night," he said, grudgingly, "Another score ruined by that blonde haired masked bitch,"

"Trouble on the job, Roman?," a seductive voice said, causing Roman to jump.

"WHOA!" he shouted as he quickly turned around and spotted the woman who hired him to steal as much Dust as possible, "H-Hey there Cinder, was not expecting to see you this evening."

"That was the point." Cinder Fall said, the seductive smirk still on her face, "And 'blonde haired bitch'?"

Roman rolled his eyes at that, "Remember that one masked vigilante I told you about that's been causing a little bit of trouble for us?" he said, and Cinder nodded.

"Yes," she said, "Let me guess, she struck again?,"

"Bingo," Roman said, "And those White Fang grunts you lent me, they got their collective asses creamed. And she showed me that she's not scared of shedding a little blood."

Cinder blinked at that, "They're dead?"

"Or wishing they were!" Roman shouted, "If I were any slower, I'd be a stain on the ground! Hell, YOU'D be a stain on the ground; this bitch fought like a Gear!"

The Fallen Maiden's eyes narrowed at that, "Like a Gear you say?" she said.

"Damn right! I witnessed enough times how those guys fight," the thief said, "But let me tell you something about that girl: She is NOT to be messed with! She may look like a Huntress, but I know that brutality anywhere."

Cinder hummed in thought at that, as she turned to the shadows.

"Emerald, add this masked woman to the list." she ordered, "If she has Gear training, she could prove quite the handful,"

"If you want a face..." Roman as he brought out his scroll, "...I got a photo of her, though like I said, she's wearing a mask."

Cinder looked at the image. Blonde hair, an...odd battledress, a sword and shield, the latter of which included a Gears Gorgon SMG, from the looks.

Cinder had faced the Gears once, and vowed never to face them again. They were ruthless, their armor was proof against all Dust-based weapons and their weapons were designed to punch through aura like a bullet through tinfoil. Not even a Maiden could face these monsters and hope to survive.

She also noticed the mask not only hid her identity, but also her eyes, and since she couldn't see her eyes, she will not be able to tell what type of person they were, for the eyes were the gateway to the soul of a person. A trait only a few share with her, including her mistress, and Ozpin... smart girl.

"She doesn't look that tough," she heard the grey haired assassin said, only to recieve a smack to the head courtesy of Emerald.

"She is trained by the Gears of War, Mercury." Cinder reminded with a glare, "A trainee Gear is worth five hunters, and they are nearly invulnerable in that accursed armor. A veteran is worth more, and the Allfathers...I fought Allfather Prime once. He nearly killed me."

Her two cohorts both winced that, since they heard of the old man. Ass he may be, but damn he was scary as hell!

"I also managed to get the recordings from the Dock's CCTV cameras." Roman said, "Through hacking of course. It will help you find a way to counter our little vigilante problem."

Cinder nodded at that, a grin on her face. "Of course." she said, and then pressed the play button.

The footage began to play, showing the entire battle and how the Maiden Knight fought. They then caught sight of the girl, though her back was to the cameras as she climbed out of the water, after swimming in _freakin' armor_. She paused, staring at something before fleeing.

A Gear-trained huntress, running? From what? It made no sense: their training crushed fear out of the minds of the trainees. However they soon saw, what it was, and it left them puzzled, four Hunters-in-training, including the 4 time tournament champion, Pyrrha Nikos.

"That is strange," Cinder said with a raised brow, "A Gear running from four Trainee Hunters? It goes against their training,"

"Yeah, but she's no Gear. She doesn't wear the armor. Lucky, too. We'd be kissing our asses goodbye."

Emerald shook her head. "Gears are just men in suits. I've seen them before; they're nothing."

"You've seen them at rest, Emerald, not in combat." Cinder admonished, "General Kylos is 60 years old, and he nearly killed me with that suit of his. Do not mistake their overuse of the armor for complacency."

The mint haired girl recoiled at the tone, Cinder used.

"Yes ma'am," she said, and the Fallen Maiden nodded.

"Good," she said, and looked back at the paused video, more specifically at the Trainee team, "I think our first bet at finding her is by following Miss Pyrrha Nikos' team. If we find nothing, then we'll leave them be for now, but, if they somehow lead us to our Maiden Knight..."

"We'll be able to get her out of our hair," said Mercury, "But, from what we saw, she's damn good with that sword of hers. We need someone who's equally or, most likely, more skilled,"

"Call in Adam." Cinder ordered, "The White Fang has a grudge against the Gears, and Taurus is overly prideful. Bastard probably believes he could kill an Allfather."

Cinder knew better. The Allfathers were an ancient lot, but their wits were kept intact and their skills only sharpened with age. Cases in point, Allfather Prime and his second-in-command, Allfather Goldsmith.

Still, pride goeth before the fall, and if Adam suffered a bruised ego because a human beat the crap out of him, so be it.

Of course, she had a little hope that the Bull Faunus will kill this Masked Maiden. In the meantime though, she decided she will watch how this girl fought, and study everything about her. If she ran out of research material, she would either bust a few knees, or just do a stealth mission to find out more.

* * *

 _ **Meanwhile, White Fang Base**_

* * *

"WHAT!? _HER_ AGAIN!?" shouted one Adam Taurus as he just received the news of the failure of the SDC heist at the docks, and the loss of over half of the White Fang who went on that operation.

"Yes sir, it was that vigilante known as the Maiden Knight," said one Faunus, who had a full face mask, and had a chainsaw on his back.

"That bitch is almost as bad as that traitor Belladonna!" Growled another Faunus, who had a pair of glasses over his mask.

"At least we have more information this time." said a female Faunus, with a pair of calico cat ears, "Torchwick survived, barely, but we have confirmation that she was trained by the Gears."

"The fact that she kills our people with the same ease should say _that_!" Adam growled as his grip on his sword tightened.

The White Fang and the Gears were the only two organizations that treated Faunus fairly well. Difference was that the Gears didn't care who you were so long as you agreed with their precious Octus Canon while the White Fang was a faunus-only organization.

Not to mention Adam hated Sapiens' guts with a passion.

"Torchwick even managed to get some video for us, as well," said Mr. Chainsaw, "We'll be able to study how she moves, and find a way to counter her. Of course... Cinder wants to capture her alive if possible,"

Adam growled at the mention of that flame woman's name.

"Anything else?" He said, already on a short fuze. The glasses wearing faunus stepped forward.

"Our operations in Vale might be about to go down the drain: Sapiens is deploying a full battalion of Gears to deal with the Grimm in the general area."

"A full. FUCKING. BATTALION?!" Adam yelled, causing everyone to wince, "Do you realize how many Gears are IN A FULL BATTALION?!"

Enough to kill every single Hunter in Vale twice over, should Sapiens give the order. But they knew the Allfather Prime: he would wait until his chance came. Then and only then would he decapitate the Hunter's Guild.

"Yes sir, we do," said Chainsaw, "Apparently the Vale Council had made a contract with him, and the Gears flagship is anchored just outside the port,"

Adam only gritted his teeth even more. The hunters were bad enough, now they have to contend with a small, but powerful army of Gears. Plus their flagship.

"Sometimes, I question how we're going to beat the humans."

* * *

 _ **Beacon Academy -Emerald Forest**_

* * *

"You're positive then?" Sapiens said to the Gear Captain in front of him.

"Yes sir, when we flew over, we spotted them taking the girl to the tower," the man said, "We debated at first storming the tower, but then we decided that will bring the Vale Council down on us, and wait for further instructions,"

"Wise choice. We'll deal with the girl later." Sapiens said, before turning to the forest, "Begin operations in the forest: find every Grimm nest and kill it. Preferably with fire."

The captain pulled out his Scorcher flamethrower, as a grin formed.

"Oh, fuck yes, sir." the man said and went off with a dozen others to begin the work.

Sapiens would deal with her in due time. He had...other things to deal with.

* * *

 _ **Unknown Room, Beacon Academy**_

* * *

Her head hurt...it hurt a lot. And that was an understatement.

She couldn't even keep her eyes open before she was forced to close them again in pain. Of course, that's the price of being a clone, where you inherit the memories of the people you were made from.

She tried to move, but she felt her arms held down, as well as her legs.

"My apologies, young lady, but we didn't want you running off." When she heard that voice she began to struggle, and then tried using her semblance to unfasten the straps, but she found that she couldn't, "Don't bother using your semblance: the fasteners are made of ceramics, and there is very little metal in this room."

Dore slammed her head against the bed. What was it the Gears were supposed to say if they were ever captured?

Oh, right, rank, name, serial number and nothing else. Military protocol.

"I have no reason harm you, Miss Dore Arkos," he said, causing the girl's eyes to widen, as the voice said her name, "Nor do I need information that your A.I. has already given me and my Deputy Headmistress, as well as a few of my students."

Dore's eyes began shaking in terror. They knew. They knew who she was, what she was, and where she came from.

"General Kylos will be making attempts to claim you for himself, young miss, so I would recommend helping me so I can help you." the voice said, as she then heard footfalls until coming into view was a white haired man. Her eyes widened a she recognized him, this person she was told about by Lady Blaze, and warned to be extremely cautious around, "We have a common goal, after all."

Ozpin, the man who was the opposite of Salem, and yet somewhat the same when it came to manipulation. Especially in order to protect a certain young Rose. Of course, unlike Salem who took great pleasure in it, he actually regrets the choices he makes.

Still, that didn't mean he was NOT on her personal shit list. Considering one person in particular.

After all, Pyrrha died because of his actions, indirect though they were. As least he didn't excuse himself, which actually put him rather low on the shitlist.

At the top were Cinder, her cronies, the White Fang, Sapiens and at the apex, Salem herself. Compared to them, Ozpin was a goddamned saint.

"This does not make us allies, Headmaster." she growled, making the man sigh.

"So I have noticed, being trained as a Gear." He said, "Sapiens has been trying to cause the destruction of the hunter's guild for over 50 years, and you seem to be his best chance at it."

Dore's eyes hardened at the mention of that man.

"I'd rather die than become that Extremist's tool!" she snapped, as she strained against the restraints. "He may have helped trained me into what I am, but I will NEVER consider myself one of his ilk!"

Ozpin nodded at that, "Anders was right, you really do hate him," he said with a soft smile.

"More than you know," she growled out.

"Very well." Ozpin said as he walked around before standing to the right, as he reached out his hand to touch hers, causing her to flinch, "The enemy of your enemy is your friend, and I only want to help you."

"The same way you 'helped' Pyrrha?" Dore rhetorically asked, "Your 'help' got her killed! And it drove Jaune so far into grief and self-loathing he believed death was the only way to achieve redemption!"

"A mistake my counterpart regretted." the Headmaster said with a regretful tone.

"Apparently not enough." the 'daughter' of the champion and knight ground out, "And trust me, when I deal with Cinder and Salem, there will be a reckoning between you and me,"

"It is rather difficult to defeat me, madam." Ozpin said, which caused the restrained girl to chuckle.

"You would be surprised." she said humorlessly, "After all, I'm the child of two philosophies."

The hunters and the gears. How could he forget.

After all, Sapiens nearly killed him once.

"I know you are duty bound to complete your mission," Ozpin said, "but I'm afraid that with you so dead-set on it, you will not only get yourself killed, but others as well, especially since Mister Arc, and Miss Nikos are now more than determined to keep you safe,"

"It is Cinder that will need the saving, after I'm done with her," Dore said, her voice holding venom for the woman who killed two important people who she admired, but never got the chance to know herself, and now feared due to the circumstances of her birth.

"Even so, you are not a living weapon." Ozpin said, said as he placed a hand on her shoulder, causing her tremble. Out of fear or anger, he didn't know, "You are a human being, with limits."

"That is where you are quite wrong, Professor," she said as she turned her head away, so he wouldn't see her sorrow filled eyes, "My sole purpose is to kill Cinder, her supporters, superior and everyone allied with her. I have no further use afterward."

Ozpin had to give the Gears credit: they knew how to brainwash a child.

"I doubt that wasn't what Blaze wanted for you, Miss Arkos," the Headmaster said as he removed his hand from her person, "I can only hope, that your parents will be able to convince you of that as well,"

Clone or not, this girl was the child of Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Nikos, and right now, those two will do everything in their power to protect her.

"What is it you want?" Dore asked, and Ozpin felt it right to oblige.

"To save all life on Remnant, Miss Arkos." he stated, "The General is right about one thing: we are losing this war against the Grimm. All I want is for humanity to live in peace, with itself and with the Faunus. Is that so wrong?"

Dore didn't answer right away, she understood the two, along with Ironwood of Atlas, wanted the same thing for Remnant, but unfortunately, their damn egos got in the way of working together. Sure, the Headmaster of Beacon and General Ironwood of Mantle had conflicting ideals with each other, but they never outright hated each other, Sapiens on the other hand hated both their guts just for being Hunters. But aside from that, the reason Beacon and Vale fell so easily, was that they were blinded by overinflated egos and couldn't face facts: Sapiens had his extremism, Ironwood his flare for the dramatic, and Ozpin, his over passiveness.

It could be worse. She sighed and looked at him.

"Fine." she said flatly, "But I want to be able to do what I have to do. We are allies of convenience, nothing more."

Ozpin nodded at that. It was better than nothing.

"Will you at least speak with Miss Nikos and Mister Arc?" He asked.

Dore shook her head. Violently. She couldn't deal with them. She wanted nothing to do with them.

She wanted to run. VERY, _VERY_ far away.

Ozpin could see that the very idea of seeing the people who have the same blood as her, is NOT what she wanted. Still, he could at least give some advice on this subject.

"Let me give you some advice on this, Miss Arkos: if you don't face your fears, not only will you not be strong enough to achieve your goals, but you will also come to regret not being able to at least making a lasting bond with them." he said sagely, his voice taking on a somber tone, "Trust me, I know from experience."

Dore didn't want to. Her indoctrination was very strong. But she was also wanting to prove the bastard wrong. She wanted to know.

Would they...love her?

With great hesitance, she gave a stiff nod. Ozpin gave a small smile, and proceeded to leave the room, leaving her alone. And thus giving her time in trying to think of a way to get the hell out. Then she remembered when she unconsciously unlocked her aura, the result of which left a huge hole in the side of the Sovereign in her time, and which Lady Blaze believed it was possibly due to the memories of one of her parents.

She closed her eyes, and concentrated in order to search through them, and she found one in particular, the one where Pyrrha unlocked Jaune's aura, and thus as she heard the words, she began to speak them as well.

* * *

Ozpin stepped outside as he spotted the two students waiting anxiously. He couldn't blame them. I mean when you see that your child from the future having been brainwashed by a militarist extremist, you tend to get worried.

He spotted the two examining their 'daughter's' weapons with extreme care, Jaune with Aurea Mors, the sword, and Pyrrha, with the shield.

He had to give the Gears credit: for people inexperienced with hunter weaponry, they remade the weapons well.

The following explosion caught his attention, causing the two to worry while he simply sighed. Fear drove you to do stupid things. The two teens rushed into the room, and gaped at seeing a now freed Dore, as her aura, being a mixed mess of Pyrrha's red, and Jaune's white, glowed brightly, as she stood up.

Using her semblance, she snatched back her weapons and proceeded to jump through the hole in the wall.

Pyrrha screamed out as she reached for her, "DORE!"

* * *

Yang Xiao Long was fairly easy to get along with. A little confused by this time travel stuff, and that Pyrrha and Jaune had a kid (binary clone or not) from the future, where everything goes straight to hell.

But not now, as she heard the start of an engine.

Her bike's engine.

"...Huh?" was the only word she managed to utter before speeding right in front of her was none other than her precious Bumblebee. But the rider was the kid in question, as they sped off and took the main road to the city.

It took a few moments for Yang to figure out her bike was just jacked before she gave the appropriate response.

"BITCH TOOK MY RIDE!" And unlike Kara 'Starbuck' Thrace, Yang was not willing to lose her bike, as she ran after it.

RWB all looked in her general direction as the bike and its' owner rushed off into the distance.

"Should we...help her?" Weiss said, a little hesitantly.

"Might as well," said Ruby, "Besides, I always liked a good car chase,"

With that, the Red Reaper used her speed semblance to go after them. Leaving the W and B of Team RWBY behind, only for Ozpin and the two parents of said bikejacker came into view.

"Where is she!?" Jaune asked.

"She hijacked Yang's bike." Blake pointed in the general direction of the chase. "Yang and Ruby are after her."

"We will need to find her before Sapiens does." Ozpin said, a little worried, "If he does, it will not end well for anyone."

"And how can we catch up?" Weiss asked, "Bullheads aren't fast enough to keep up with Ruby when she's at full burn."

Ozpin smirked slightly as he held up his scroll.

"I already got that part handled," he said.

* * *

Dore drove through the streets, turning sharply to avoid crashing into buildings or other cars on the road. Her mission was not going to be delayed: she knew where she had to go. Mountain Glenn was the only logical place to breach Vale, and she has a lot of people to kill to prevent it.

"Hey!" a voice shouted making her turn to the right, and saw the one person Lady Blaze warned to be wary of, "You just stole my sister's bike! And she's really angry at you!"

Dore mentally groaned, she forgot about her fellow blonde's fiery temper.

"Tell her that I'm giving it back as soon as I'm away from Vale!" she said as she continued to dodge the incoming traffic and trying to get the girl off her tail. Though one thing about Ruby Rose, she was persistent.

"Why are you running!?" the said Reaper shouted.

"You wouldn't understand!" was Dore's response, as she used her semblance to stop the bike, then used it to climb a building, using the metal to get to the roof. The sound of a Royal Raven, however, made her regret it, as the aircraft entered sight, the side hatches open, and both gatlings deployed.

"Shit!" she cursed, as she accelerated away, just as the gatlings opened up on her. She used the same trick to get as far away from the helicopter as possible.

The 16mm rounds narrowly missed her, impacting the street instead. Her earpiece intercepted radio calls from the Royal and General Kylos.

" _RR-47, what the HELL are you doing?!"_ she heard the Gears Allfather shout.

" _We have sight of the target, sir_." she heard the pilot respond.

" _Cease fire, you idiots: if you keep this up, you'll cause our contract to be rescinded_!" Sapiens shouted angrily, " _Return to Sovereign_!"

" _Y-Yes sir_ ," The Royal Raven stopped firing as it broke off it's pursuit, giving Dore some needed breathing room, but knew that Sapiens will be after her like a bulldog.

She continued driving Bumblebee through the city until she found a spot to hide it, like a maintenance tunnel, till Yang came for it. She found one such spot and parked the vehicle there.

She then began to search her inlay pockets of her battle dress until she found her scroll, still there, even after Ozpin said he had it.

"Anders?" she said, and the image of the A.I. appeared.

" **Yes, mistress**?" the A.I. said.

"Access the Gears comms network: I want to know where the Ravens will be." Dore advised, as she looked around, "We need to get out of the city without being detected."

" **Accessing**...," Anders said and began scanning, " **Five King Raven gunships and one Hunin EWAC are in the air**."

Dore sighed at that, couldn't be any worse.

"Right...Anders, you told them everything, didn't you?" she asked firmly.

" **Not everything, Dore** ," said Anders, " **I never revealed to them Lady Blaze's final gift to you. But if should they find out, it could cause more problems for us. In the meantime, I advise heading to our hideout on the outskirts**."

"That Hunin is going to make getting there difficult, there." Dore reminded.

" **I am currently intercepting and altering their readings, but my work will be discovered soon. I suggest you move quickly."** the A.I. advised, which caused the clone to smirk.

"And that's why I like Anders" she said and thus began the journey to their hideaway.

* * *

Ruby watched as the Hunin helicopter, an upgraded KR with electronic warfare and surveillance equipment installed on it, flew overhead.

"They REALLY want to find her." she said worriedly.

"They're not going to." Said Ozpin shaking his head, "She knows how the Gears operate: if anything, she'll evade them."

Yang recovered her bike, growling. "She _ruined_ my paint job!"

"Complain at that later, Yang: we have to find her!" Weiss said, "If it makes you happy, I'll pay for the repairs,"

Yang grumbled, but accepted the Schnee's offer.

They and Team JNPR, along with Ozpin and Glynda, had located Bumblebee not too long ago, with the engine still warm, so she hadn't gotten far.

Ozpin looked at his scroll, as it showed a holographic map of the city.

The girl was heading out of the city proper.

And he knew where she was heading.

* * *

After dodging the Gears aerial hounds, Dore finally managed to reach her destination, the Old Royal Palace, the home of Vale's Royal family, until they were forced to abdicate by the Revolutionaries that oversaw the overthrow of the other monarchs. However, instead of becoming a republic or democracy, they remained a 'kingdom', which of course, makes them an oligarchy. A kingdom without a king.

The palace had been abandoned, and Dore took it as her main base of operations. The Gears ignored it: they didn't bother looking at it because it was empty, and no Grimm went near it. As such, she took control of it.

She entered the palace through a window on the bottom floor, and began walking through the magnificent halls of the grand building. Despite being abandoned, the council would occasionally send clean-up crews to take care of it, rather than just demolishing it like the other castles and palaces of the old monarchs, saying wanting to be reminded of their past. Specifically, the place was well taken care of.

She walked up the stairs to the third floor, and it was not long till she arrived at a specific room.

She entered the room, finding her additional ammunition and equipment, including a Lancer Mk 2 and a Longshot sniper rifle, which has been modified to accept dust rounds if necessary.

The Gears were assholes. She knew this. But their weapons were high-quality and lethal.

Aside from these, there was another weapon. One that had earned a place in her heart, her custom made bow. Made for her by Lady Blaze herself, who taught her how to take care of, and use it. It was mostly used for stealth missions, but the weapon was well constructed it could be used like a bo staff, which means she can use it to block dust rounds, melee strikes, and more specifically, Cinder's glass arrows.

"An impressive weapon." Dore whipped around, grabbing the Lancer, via polarity semblance, and pointing it at Ozpin, who had entered the palace a few minutes after her. "Who made it for you?"

"How did..." she said, before she shook her head, "never mind, I know how. You put a tracking device on me."

"Miss Arkos, what do I have to do to get you to accept the fact we are on the same side?" Ozpin said as he carefully approached her, "You do not have to work alone."

Her eyes narrowed at that, "With the exception of Lady Blaze, I've always been alone." she said, her voice void of emotion, "You have no idea what my future is like... my parents died before I was even born. The Gears never truly saw as one of their own, just the clone spawn of two Hunters who died miserably at the hands of a power-seeking bitch. My mother shot through the heart and her body burnt to ash, and my father, who realized his feelings for her too late, was torn by guilt and despair and died when he protected Ruby Rose from the same woman who killed her,"

"You don't need to fight alone anymore." Ozpin tried to reason, "You have allies. Your parents will not-"

"They're not my parents!" Dore shouted, "I wasn't born naturally!"

"They would tend to disagree." the Headmaster spoke, making the Arkos' eyes widen, "They want to talk to you. They want to know who you are."

Dore froze. They actually wanted to see her?

"Why?" she breathed out, "I'm just a clone."

"I learned from a wise man once, the body maybe made by man, but it never has the same soul," Ozpin quoted, "Your soul belongs to you, no matter the circumstances. Blame the creator, and not the creation."

She blinked. Her parents didn't see her as a freak. She still feared seeing them...

But... something in her told her... that she could try.

 _'You're a weapon, you stupid clone._ ' Sapiens' voice growled in her head, 'Never forget.'

Her eyes narrowed as her grip on the rifle tightened.

 _'Go to hell, General_.' she growled mentally, _'I don't know what I am, but I am not your weapon_.'

She lowered the Lancer and looked at Ozpin, still on guard, "Where are they?"

Her question was answered as she felt two hands on her shoulders, causing her to stiffen. She then slowly turned her head to one side and spotted similar eyes to her own along with her face, staring back at her. It was Pyrrha.

She still had the urge to flee. But the smile on her face stopped her from running. The motherly expression caused Dore to relax.

"I know it's awkward to call me mother." Pyrrha said, as she gave a comforting squeeze to her shoulder, "You don't have to! But we do want to get to know you."

She looked to the other side, and saw Jaune, the hair, almost the same as her own, sans the minor streaks of red.

"Yeah, we need to get used to it, but we..." Jaune said, as he scratched behind his head, "...would like to be your parents."

Dore was torn between her fears and breaking down.

They wanted her. They WANTED HER.

Blaze tried to raise her right. But she wasn't her mother. Mentor, perhaps.

But not mother.

She felt her grip on the Lancer become slack, and her knees weakened before she began to drop to the floor, luckily she was caught before she fully dropped, while the rifle was carefully taken out of her hands by Jaune. She saw her vision began to slightly blur as she felt something leaking from her eyes.

Tears.

She took Jaune and Pyrrha into her arms and began sobbing. Her parents accepted her.

All she needed now was to keep them alive. She would NOT lose her loved ones.

* * *

 _ **GNS Sovereign**_

* * *

"Define 'missing'." Sapiens glared at his ECOs, who were looking for the girl. "We had 5 KRs in the air, plus a Hunin. We should have FOUND her through her magnetic signature, if not visually. So how the FUCK did you miss finding a 16 year old clone?!"

The gathered group of officers flinched away from the currently irate man.

"S-Something was hampering our equipment, sir...," at the Allfather's glare which told him to explain or else, he gulped, "W-When we thought we had a lock on her, our screens blacked out for just a moment, and when they came back on, she was gone!"

Sapiens growled as he walked up to the line of men, who stood rigid straight.

"Do you idiots have any idea of how important that clone is?" he said flatly, "She has information on our organization, knows our training, knows how our technology works, and possibly knows the identity of a traitor within our ranks,"

"Sir-" One of them began to say only to be cut off.

"I do not want EXCUSES. Find her. Dismissed!" The ECOs saluted before leaving.

"They aren't to blame, Sapiens." said another of the Allfathers, which made Sapiens sigh in slight irritation.

"Allfather Phillips, I didn't ask for your opinion." he ground out, while Allfather Giorgio Phillips shrugged.

"Sapiens, the bitch had help from within somehow." he said, while Sapiens glared at him.

"I doubt our people would betray us, Phillips." Sapiens said, and began rubbing his head to try to rid of the headache he had, "How do I find a traitor in an organization of brothers?"

However, a set of footsteps got their attention as the head technician, a man of 30 years entered.

"Pardon me Allfathers, but... while I was running maintenance on the KR's as you instructed, I found something," the man said, and Sapiens and the others looked at him.

"Yes?" he demanded and the man nodded with a serious look on his face.

"Our EW systems were infiltrated, sir," he answered, but then his face became more puzzled, "but it was at 0124 hours."

Sapiens and the Allfather Council all blinked at that

"Midflight?" Susan said, surprise coloring her tone, "How?"

"It was done wirelessly, Ma'am," The tech elaborated, "And was done by what looks like a Class-J AI, but it was too clean to be a standard Class-J."

Sapiens groaned at that.

"She has access to one of our AIs." he said in frustration, "GodDAMN it, how badly have we been compromised?"

"There is good news to this sir," the expert said, "By some miracle, I was able to get a piece of coding the A.I. left behind. Once I have it thoroughly scanned, we just may be able to get some light shed on this"

"Get me the data as soon as possible." he ordered and the man nodded and left, "Now, for the less pressing matters: the Grimm."

"Reports indicate that the Grimm are being pushed towards caves in the region, sir: we'll burn them out." said one of two Gear Colonels in the room.

"Burn them in." Sapiens firmly stated, "I want them dead, not driven off. Any escapees, you chainsaw. Clear?"

Two Gear Colonels saluted before they left.

"And what about our...little bird?" the Allfather Prime inquired, as a barely noticeable smirk appeared on her face.

"The conditioning we have her under is still holding, Sapiens," said another of the Allfathers, one Frederick Aiden, "Of course there are signs of her fighting it. I highly request a re-con procedure the time she returns."

"Of course...," Sapiens said, while chuckling, "...another reason I picked her, she's definitely strong spirited."

"The incentive seems to be the only thing keeping her from trying to off herself."

Sapiens chuckled this, "She knows that if she attempts to commit suicide, her family dies. She rebels, they die. She has one choice: obey or suffer. Now, I believe we have to prepare for security for the Vytal Festival, Allfathers."

* * *

Her father was wimpy, Dore decided, but he was trying. But she knew after the death of Pyrrha in her time, Jaune became a badass to be feared. He even paid back Emerald and Mercury for their part for sullying Pyrrha's image, which she noted to herself to personally maim the two.

"So...this thing is actually Crocea and Milo remade?" Jaune said as he looked at the sword, along with Ruby and her team, which the Y of the team kept giving her glares, for stealing her bike. The Red Reaper was in awe of the craftsmanship of the sword and wanted to hold it herself.

"The Gears reforged the sword, with Lady Blaze giving some aid. I've fought their Lancer's chainsaw bayonets using this thing." She smiled. "I always won."

"I've seen Gears using those things." Blake said as she shuddered, "They were...ruthless."

"The Gears are not known for sympathy. But I know one thing." She twirled the blade around. "I will shove this thing through Sapiens' head once Salem is dealt with."

"Yeesh, easy there girl," said Yang, even though she was mad at the clone, didn't mean she want her to get killed, "One thing at a time here,"

"I know that Miss Xiao Long," Dore said as she placed her sword back into it's sheath, "I know I need to be patient and bide my time. But...with the Vytal Festival just a few months away, I can't help but feel...nervous,"

"Like-Oh." Weiss began to ask then stopped, "OH."

Cinder killing Pyrrha.

She wanted to kill the bitch before she could kill her mother. Yang was sorta glad to see she wasn't the only one with mommy issues.

Still didn't excuse the bike theft.

"I presume that enrolling you at Beacon is out of the question?" Pyrrha asked as she was inspecting the SMG Akouo shield, specifically Dore's personal emblem, which is a combination of both hers and Jaune's.

The said girl then spoke, "I'm at the right age," she said, before a sad smile formed, "My...birthday is coming up in a couple weeks."

Everyone's eyes widen at that.

"Really?" Nora said, getting excited, "We need to get you a cake! Oh, and presents!"

"I don't think she's ever had a birthday party, Nora." Ren said, sighing at his best friend's over eagerness.

"Exactly!" the girl exclaimed.

Dore blinked. Sapiens never did anything for her, and Blaze was never there for her birthdays, as Sapiens took over her training.

And he made the Spartans look good.

"I-I don-" she was about to say, when she felt two fingers on her lips.

"Tututu, I, for once, agree with Nora," Weiss said, all of them shocked she agreed.

"Eh, Weiss?" Ruby said, with a surprised expression, "YOU agreeing with Nora?"

"She has been abused by a military organization for Oum knows how long, has had zero contact with people outside that organization and to be frank, must learn how to interact with people. We should hold a birthday party for her; we could use some...normalcy. As little we get." Weiss laid out, and the others all agreed she had a point.

"A-are you...sure about that?" Dore said, a little unsure. She then felt a hand on her shoulder and saw it was Pyrrha.

"We'll... try not to make it too flashy for you...," she looked at her female teammate and the heiress, and gave the most innocent grin, which somehow sent cold dread down everyone's spines, there was even a dangerous glint in her emerald eyes, "...right?"

They chuckled nervously. "R-Right..."

Over protective mom. On the other hand, Jaune was her father.

Oh, fuck, they were screwed if they didn't get this right: Jaune was a wimp, but if his aura were used offensively, they would not survive.

"Well, I wouldn't mind putting you on the school roster as a... special case," Ozpin said, as he took a sip of coffee which made the girl and everyone else curious where that came from, "Things like this happened before at Beacon, where the Odd number student is allowed to work with whatever team she chooses,"

"I...I'm not sure I should be at...Beacon...I'm not exactly comfortable being around my...parents." The clone girl said nervously, "They're my age."

"Only in body." the Headmaster said, making her blink, "I think everyone here has noticed that your parents act more mature and protective of you. Natural instinct, I suppose. Either way, I don't think they would mind."

Dore had to admit, Ozpin was right. While she was still...nervous, she was relaxing.

She then gave a slight nod, making everyone smile that she was coming to Beacon.

Ozpin gave a small smile and nodded, "Good, now, I believe we should all get back now," he said, "Glynda is waiting with the Bullhead, and if any of you wish to help Miss Arkos move her-"

He stopped as he saw that everyone had already gathered up all the gear.

"Hmm."

At least this year would be interesting.

* * *

The next day

* * *

"While it is actually late in the semester, I would like to introduce you to a new student." Dore winced as she entered Professor Port's classroom, dressed in the Beacon school uniform. Her hair back in it's original bun, "This is Dore Arkos. She's a student from Vacuo who decided to transfer to Beacon."

Dore looked at the other students, Ruby waving at her while she focused on Team CRDL.

While 60% of the Gear's Octus Canon was bullshit, the rest were true: all are equal, be they Faunus or human. So she'd make them bleed until they learned better.

"The Headmaster himself has given instructions that you are to make her feel at home here at Beacon," Port said, "If they're any incidents in regards to any mistreatment of her, there WILL be consequences. Now! Even though I already said your name already, why don't you introduce yourself, Miss Arkos."

She took in a breath. "Hello. My name is Dore Arkos. It is a pleasure to meet you." 'More like a pleasure to meet my family and kill Team Retard.'

Yeah, Sapiens was a dick, but he WAS right more then he was wrong.

Though about her...he was always wrong.

And for that, she was glad as she took her seat, between Pyrrha and Jaune, Port starting his tall tales as she slightly nodded off, ignoring every word.

* * *

 **Patriot-112: _And another done_!**

 **Ron the True Fan: _I'm a sucker for romance. Sue me._**

 **Patriot-112: _Yes, we all know that Ron. Now I know there have been a few out who gave given me some criticism, which are good criticism. Unfortunately there is the bad criticism which are mostly guest reviews, which unfortunately I can't delete because FF is having a damn glitch problem. And it sucks! And yes (Rubs temples as headache comes on) I know Ron made the Gear too OP..._**

 **Ron the True Fan: _They'll suffer, just give it time. Besides, they're the bad guys. Bad guys are supposed to be OP, that way it's more satisfying when they fall. Don't deny it: you KNOW I'm right_.**

 **Patriot-112: _Of course. Also, since Dore will entering Beacon, she'll be needing a new attire in order to stave off those who have seen her Maiden Knight alter ego. Ron suggests the female Gear armor, while I was thinking another Fate series armor worn by Saber/Arturia...like say, Saber Alter, or Saber Lily. Of course, I plan for Dore to move away from Gear thinking, even though she still fights like them and uses their equipment. So, we'll need your honest opinions. PM me what you think. Be nice about it though. And don't do it all at once, give me a day or two to type up what you think. Until then, Later!_**


	3. Chapter 2: Autumn

**Patriot-112: Well, here we are with another chapter my friends. Also, I had some advice from people of about combining the tech advantage armor of the gear, to the more Hunter oriented armor of Dore's new attire. And thus, it makes it more Hunter-esque and thus make it a symbol of the combination of the two practices. What it is, I'll reveal after you read this chapter. Now then, let's begin. **

**P.S. After this, if you guys have any grievances. I wholly understand, and I will GLADLY rewrite this.**

* * *

 _ **Chapter 2:**_

 _ **Autumn**_

* * *

"Hmm, interesting...," said Cinder, as she smirked as she watched a video of the Maiden Knight fight, while watching one of Pyrrha Nikos' past tournament matches.

"Found something, Cinder?" Emerald asked as the said woman nodded.

"They fight alike." she said, "But they aren't the same."

"Alike?" the dark skinned girl said, and the Fallen Maiden nodded.

"They use the shield as an offensive weapon as well as defense," she explained, "but the blonde's style is more brutal, using tactics from the Gears Boomshield users."

"Like crushing people's skulls?" Mercury asked, and Cinder nodded, though not impassively.

Some things were just WRONG.

"Yes. Though, from what I'm seeing she does some measure of control when fighting," she said, and smirked, "I think it will be quite interesting if we ever fought, once I have the rest of the Maiden powers"

"If she doesn't get killed first and if WE keep away from those assholes with the aura-penning guns!" Mercury ranted.

"Yes, Mercury I know," Cinder said exasperatedly, "Which is why we use the Gears arrogance against them,"

"How do we do that?" Emerald asked.

"I'm already trying to find that," the maiden said, "But once I find it, I will exploit it."

"You know, boss lady, they're arrogant for a damn good reason." Mercury countered, "In those suits, they're invincible!"

"Not as invincible as you think." Cinder said as she smirked, "They can take water pressure, but they can't take heat. You can dump a Gear in the ocean and he'll walk his way back to shore. Put him in a fire he can't run his way out of, he cooks and dies."

"Really?" Emerald said.

"It's how I escaped Sapiens." Cinder replied, but then sighed in irritation, "But he jumped into the water soon after, and I had to flee."

"You nearly killed him," the grey haired assassin said, "but didn't finish the job?"

Cinder cast Mercury a glare, as her amber eyes glowed a burning yellow. "He had put five rounds into me from a Mk 1 Lancer. Do you know how powerful a Mk 1 Lancer IS?"

Mercury raised his hands in surrender at that, "Okay, Okay, I get the point," he quickly placated, not wanting to be roasted alive. Emerald decided to take over, lest her partner get killed.

"But that was then, before you met the two us," Emerald clarified, "And since you know how he fights, you can find a way to put him down for good. Right?"

"You two would be dead before he entered the room. He doesn't travel alone anymore. I faced him one on one. Now he's escorted by the elites, his Onyx Guard."

They didn't know about the Onyx Guard, prompting her to continue. "They're elite specops Gears. Best of everything: training, equipment, armor. There's rumors they even have anti-semblance equipment."

The two were shocked at that.

"Like I said, it's just a rumor," Cinder assured, but that didn't make them comfortable.

"Well, I think we'll go for a walk around town," said Emerald, as she got up from her spot, along with Mercury, "need to know the city before the big day,"

"Just keep your hands clean," Cinder warned, "I don't want murder reports popping up on the news."

"Yes, ma'am."

* * *

 _ **Beacon Academy**_

* * *

Dore adjusted her new battle outfit. It was based on the light female Gear armor, to a point. After all, it WAS Gear armor until Blaze took it and began modifying the fuck out of it. It was more streamlined, and it still had the feel of the old knight armor, like her Maiden knight armor, but this allowed for a little more... flexibility. Not to mention it looked a little feminine.

She placed the last of her leg armor on, before she set her hair into a ponytail much like her mother's, but had the red ribbon securing it. After looking in the mirror she gave a sigh before walking toward the battle arena. She was facing all of Team CRDL who actually challenged her, thinking she was a glass cannon.

Time to prove them wrong. She exited the locker room, unsheathing her sword and giving it a few experimental twirls before sheathing it.

Waiting for her was Glynda Goodwitch and team CRDL, whose leader considered her little more than a blonde bimbo.

He was going to suffer for that.

"The match between Team CRDL vs. Dore Arkos, is about to start," began Glynda as the timer began to count down from ten. Dore got into her battle stance as she gripped her sword in both hands. As the timer reached zero, and before Glynda could say start, she rushed forward in a blur.

Cardin's mace was smacked aside as the blade dug into his armor, much to his surprise before Thrush counterattacked using his daggers, but she easily evaded the telegraphed strikes before withdrawing her shield and cocking the SMG.

The sound of the distinctive Gorgon was enough to make him figuratively shit his pants. The gun opened fired at the mohawk dagger wielder, the dust rounds knocking him back. If those had been Aura penetrators, he would've been dead. Sky then charged intending to take advantage of the distraction.

However, Dore saw this coming as she raised her shield and deflected Sky's halberd thrust, before using her sword to hit the side of his head with the flat of the blade.

This was ridiculous. If she was trying to kill them, like her training demanded, this would have been over in seconds. No wonder the Gears considered Hunters pathetic.

She caught Cardin's mace with her hand before kicking him in the face, taking the weapon from his hands before slamming it on Dove's leg, actually breaking it before punching him away and dropping the mace.

"And here I thought your team wasn't pathetic enough, Winchester." Dore said with contempt, "The only thing your family will ever be good at is picking on people, whether they be Faunus or not,"

Cardin growled as he got up and retrieved his mace, he looked at the board and couldn't believe that this little bitch knocked him in the yellow already, along with the rest of his teammates.

She twirled her blade around in her hands. "Come on, Winchester. You can do better than this."

He swung, and she dodged with ease before kicking him in the ass. "Seriously, are you even TRYING?" she snapped, causing him to growl.

He fired back with the tip of his mace, which she blocked with her reinforced shield before popping her head up.

"You suck." with that she charged forward causing Cardin to swing his mace at her, but she just jumped into the air before dropping down and stomped her armored boot onto his face, causing him to grunt in pain. She then flipped forward, and before landing, gave a mule kick which sent Cardin flying and out of the ring, ending the match.

"Well done." She froze at that voice. "Well done! Maybe there's hope for you after all."

She faced the crowd, finding Sapiens, flanked by two black armored men of the Onyx Guard.

Dore immediately went on guard, as she prepped her semblance. Team JNPR and RWBY immediately go to her side. Glynda, sensing the trouble, immediately stepped in front of her students, her riding crop out.

"May I ask the nature of your visit, Allfather Kylos?" she said, her tone neutral.

"I heard you had a new student. A skilled warrior. And the rumors were true, it seems. Tell me, girl, who trained you? You fight like we do."

"None of your business, General." Dore growled as she leveled a glare at him, but Sapiens just scoffed before pulling out his Mk 2 Lancer.

"Perhaps I should put you through your paces."

Glynda prepared to use her semblance when the Onyx Guard pointed their lancers at her. With a firing rate of 600 rounds per minute and a 60 round magazine, they would kill her.

The Allfather Prime jumped into the ring, helmet enveloping his head. "Let's see how well you do against a real warrior." he challenged, and the two teams looked like they were about to interfere.

"No!" Dore shouted and everyone looked at her in shock. "Don't get in his way, if you do, he'll kill you all. I've heard enough stories to know what kind of a person he is,"

Truth is, she knew him a lot more than that. He wasn't a person, he was an insane monster in human skin.

"Listen to the girl. You would be dead in seconds." The teeth of the chainsaw deployed. "I have a rendezvous with death." Dore groaned. More bad poetry.

"At some disputed barricade. Maybe he should take my hand and lead me through this dark land." The motor started up, running one full revolution for the chainsaw. "I have a rendezvous with death, and I to my pledged word am true...I shall not fail that rendezvous." He opened fire.

Dore raised her shield blocking the incoming fire, but she was caught off guard by the force of the bullets which nearly sent her tumbling.

 _'Shit! He's using Grade A ammo!_ ' she cursed, _'Those rounds could maim anyone!_ '

The Gear ceased fire, ejecting the magazine before she charged, forcing him to use the chainsaw.

The sword met the instrument of death before Sapiens kicked her away, making her lose her grip on Aurea Mors, and allowing him to finish reloading the rifle before she reached for the Onyx Guard's lancer with her semblance. The guard didn't even flinch as it flew from his hands and she caught the chain rifle and met Sapiens' own weapon with it.

"Oh ho! So you do know how to wield a Lancer," said Sapiens, a smirk forming which Dore REALLY hated, "I got to admit, whoever trained you, didn't slack off," Sparks flew from the two chainsaws as the pair pushed against one another. She kneed the General, forcing him to back off before swinging at him with the bayonet, but the Allfather dodged, swinging his own Lancer like an ax. It was a bastardized swordfight with chainsaw-equipped rifles.

"I have to say...I'm enjoying myself!" he roared, before he kicked her in the chest, sending her to the ground, the blow made her cough out blood, much to the shock and worry of Team RWBY and JNPR, more especially, Pyrrha and Jaune.

"Dore...," was the worried whisper from the said Champion as she watched her future daughter fight with the Allfather.

"And yet still as pathetic as the rest of the Hunters. You would have made a better gear." She swept her Lancer at the Allfather's leg, chainsaw roaring.

Note that the armor of a Gear is made of high-grade titanium with a liquid-crystal inner layer. The Lancer's chainsaw bayonet was made of the same material with a diamond coating.

Sapiens didn't notice it cut through until he felt the sting of pain, so foreign, in his leg.

The Allfather roared in pain before the weapon cut clean through, removing his leg from the mid-shin down before Dore swung again, cutting off the leg at mid-calf.

But as he fell, he took out a combat knife and slashed at her, aiming for her neck. The result was a graze which nearly got the artery, albeit she was still bleeding a good amount.

"Ugh!" she yelped as she backed away from the Allfather, her hand on her neck, as she felt the sting.

"FUCKING CUNT!"

The Onyx Guard pointed their weapons, a Lancer and a Snubnose, at Dore, but Sapiens screams forced them to stand down before they tended to the Allfather Prime. He went into shock, falling unconscious, but still alive, being kept on life support by his armor.

"Dore!" Both RWBY and JNPR, rushed over, as Dore used whatever was left of her aura to heal her wound, and bruised limbs.

"Are you alright?" Ruby said in worry, and the fiery haired woman nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine, it's just a graze," she said as she carefully removed her hand from the wound on her neck. It was still leaking blood, but not a whole lot.

The Onyx guard finished tending to their leader before pointing their weapons at Dore, however a voice got their attention.

"That's enough, gentlemen." The Gears looked to a new arrival, Ozpin himself, escorted by Port. "The Allfather Prime may hate me, but I know him well enough not to hold a grudge. He was beaten fairly. Let her go and leave the grounds. Tend to your man."

The Black Guards looked like they wanted to disagree, but they knew the Headmaster was right. It was a fair duel, and the damn girl won, so they swallowed their pride, before grabbing the Allfather's leg, and carried the old man out.

Ozpin then looked to the said girl in question as he saw the angered look on her face. He proceeded to walk over to her as Glynda checked her now almost fully head wound.

"Dore...?" he said, and the girl winced.

"I'm sorry...I let my anger get the better of me," she said somberly, as she looked at the other students in the stands, some who looked at her fearfully, while others were a little disgusted. She blinked when she felt two hands on her shoulders. Looking side to side she saw the smiles of the two people she cared about most.

"You may have gotten angry, but you regret it don't you?" said Pyrrha.

"W...Yes, I do, but...-" she was cut off by Jaune.

"No buts, what's done is done." the white knight told her, "Now, let's you to the nurse's office,"

Dore reluctantly nodded as the three left the battle arena. As they did, Dore couldn't help but smile slightly. The Allfather had been defeated. At least that was a good step forward.

* * *

"Did you SEE how she kicked that Gear's ass?" Yang shouted as she and Team RWBY went back to their Dorm.

"Yes, Yang, we have." Weiss said, as she shivered at the duel, "We were there."

Yang was impressed. Sure, it was a little GORY, but that bastard needed to have his ass humbled. And it was!

He lost his LEG!

"Still, that was a little ruthless, even for a gear," Ruby said, a little squeamish after seeing the man's leg sliced off.

"Gears don't play nice, Ruby. They don't use their aura and their semblances are never used because of it."

"Still, that shouldn't mean they should be so...bad."

"War is hell, and hell is brutal." Ruby looked at Blake, slightly shocked. "Brutality and death are part and parcel, and should never be excluded. Such is life, and that can't be denied." the faunus put her book down. "General Sapiens Kylos, Allfather Prime. He said that 22 years ago, when the Gears' methods were questioned. As you've guessed, they're not the most pleasant force."

"Which is the reason everybody fears them." said Weiss, "My father even planned to have a contract with them to protect the company's assets."

Blake's eyes narrowed at that, "Why would he want to hire a Private Military Organization, that accepts anyone in their ranks, including Faunus?" she asked.

"Their effectiveness outweighed my father's dislike of the Faunus in their ranks." the heiress explained, "Their list of enemies is long, as you're well aware."

Yang began counting on her fingers.

"The White Fang, the Atlas military, the hunter's Guild and, like everyone else, the Grimm." she listed off, "They killed a number of White Fang cell groups before I left them, and...they made the deaths in the Schnee work camps look gentle."

Blake's glare was even more intense.

"And now, Dore" she reminded, "Because apparently, she knows everything they know, and will do everything in their power to get her."

Yang wasn't so sure.

"They could've done that during the time she first came to Beacon," she said.

"Not according to their contract with the Vale council." Weiss withdrew her scroll. "Unless she poses a direct threat to the security of both the Gears of War and the Kingdom of Vale, they can't do anything as long as she's inside the city walls. Outside, unless escorted, she's free game."

"That doesn't excuse him nearly putting a bullet into my head." Blake growled out.

Yang stared at Blake, eyes turning red. "What."

"He shot at me, once as a warning." the cat faunus explained, "The second round would have entered my head if Dore hadn't jumped in."

Yang's aura began to manifest as her anger began to skyrocket. Forget Dore for stealing her bike, Sapiens was now on her shitlist.

"If I ever get the chance, he's dead meat," she snarled.

"If anyone outside the Gears could kill him, he would be long since dead, Yang. Don't."

* * *

 _ **GNS Sovereign**_

* * *

"She took off my LEG." Sapiens growled, "If I wasn't so impressed with her, I would be trying to kill her."

The medics installed the new artificial leg, Sapiens pain receptors turned off by drugs so he wouldn't scream.

"Sir, we should kill her." said one of the two Onyx Guard who helped carry him back to the Sovereign.

"And why should I order such a thing?" the Allfather asked, much to the two men's shock.

"But...sir," the man managed to breath out, "She...,"

He was cut off by a raised hand from the General.

"She was trained to be a pure warrior, and whoever did that, succeeded," he said, and smiled, "And I will not waste such talent."

The new plate armor was affixed to the leg, the end cap forming an airtight seal.

"There. No harm done. This girl...is a binary clone. A well trained and skilled fighter." Sapiens pointed at his guards. "Continue operations. I want Beacon watched like a hawk. What about the AI intrusion?"

"Technicians say they're almost done with the overall scans," said one of the guards, "It's only a matter of time,"

"Tell them to double their efforts," Sapiens said, "I want that information on my scroll as soon as possible."

"Yes, sir." The guards acknowledged and left the medical bay, as Sapiens, experimented with his new leg.

"Still...that could've gone better,"

* * *

 _"You gave her THOSE powers didn't you!?"_

 _"She'll need anything in her arsenal in order to achieve her mission. That, and I was also interested how interesting how your little Gears will fair against her once she decides she has no choice but to use them. Plus it will make it easier for you to kill me,"_

 _"I could've killed you before!"_

 _"I nearly killed you the first time. You only survived because of your Lancer. And you're only getting slower at your old age."_

 _"Damn you. Your mistress will die by our hand, not hers. All you're doing is making it easier."_

 _"You forget, she has their blood in her veins. She will never say no to a challenge, and she never goes back on her word. Especially when it comes to her vengeance."_

 _"And what if that fool Ozpin finds out? Or worse your past self!?"_

 _"She'll do what she has to. She IS a Gear by training, General."_

 _"Her only real redeeming attribute."_

 _"And that is why you fail, Kylos. You never looked into others hearts. Sure you have charisma and led soldiers in battle, but you never opened your heart to them."_

* * *

Dore was in the Emerald Forest, dispatching any Grimm she laid her eyes on.

She needed to vent: the presence of the Gears was making her mad, and when she got mad...the Gear training came out. And she became so much worse. CDRL was barely spared her wrath, and the Grimm were introduced to her rage.

A young Beowolf tried to attack her from behind but she just sidestepped and cleaved it's head off, with Aurea Mors. That was not the last however as more of it's pack came to kill the one that slew it's member. Using her polarity and shield, she sent the object like a frisbee and it decapitated about a dozen of the pack in one go. After the shield came back to her she then gathered aura into her hand and slammed it into the ground sending a shock that fried the rest of the pack.

"The fuck was that?"

"Picking up movement. It's not Grimm."

Dore cursed. The Gears were in Vale. This didn't happen last time, but she probably worried the Vale Council enough to request the highly regarded, if morally questionable, mercenary group.

Wasting no time she began to make a run for it.

"Hey! It's that clone!"

"And she's outside the nest...after her! The general wants her alive!"

Dore fled, not ready to fight _all_ the Gears. But she had no choice but to, losing options.

She barely ducked out of the way as a Lancer 2 chainsaw bayonet nearly took her head off, and slammed into the tree.

"What happened to wanting me alive!?" she cursed, as she used her shield block a hail of bullets.

"You nearly killed the General." the attacking Lancer said, her voice being that of a woman, "We're taking no chances."

The Gear swung her Lancer, which Dore removed from her hands, butting her with the weapon before activating the chainsaw. Killing them was not something she needed to do, but the Gears needed to leave her alone.

And if they didn't report in, Sapiens would get the excuse to get her.

Thus, it was best to knock them out then killing them. But first...

"Tell your boss, and your friends to leave me alone." she said warningly, "Don't make regret me this,"

"We've got our orders."

"Then I don't have a choice."

The Gears attacked the girl, one swinging the chainsaw bayonet, the other firing his Snubnose.

The melee began.

* * *

A duo of Gears were standing guard outside one of the hunting camps, as the rest searched for stray Grimm.

"You think the new girl's dangerous?" asked one Gear as he checked his Lancer 2.

"She took off Kylo's LEG." said the other guard, "how can she not be?"

Their talk was cut off by a body falling in front of them.

"What the hell!?"

Their attention then turned to the figure coming from the trees, blood in some areas, her Gear Huntress outfit partially damaged, as she held Aurea Mors. But that's not what got their attention, it was her eyes. They looked to surrounded in flames.

"Fucking hell, bitch is a Maiden?!" The bullets they used would kill her, but she was Gear trained.

Aura plus Gear training equalled them dying.

And they would, even as they opened fire.

* * *

Ruby held a weapon in her hands.

It was the Gear Assault Rifle Model 14, Specialized for Melee/Anti-Grimm Combat, popularly known as the Lancer Mk 2. Few people had a chance to hold the well-made weapon.

"Exactly WHY are we in her room, looking through all her equipment?," Weiss asked no in particular, as her eye twitched in irritation.

"Hey! I'm just curious!" said Ruby as she looked as placed it down, "Besides, I would probably never get another chance like this again!"

She pulled out a Long Range Rifle, Scoped Model 5, called the Longshot. She pouted as she noticed the weapon's superior caliber and power to Crescent Rose before putting it down, looking through more cases, opening one of them by accident. Inside was a set of armor.

She froze as she looked at it.

"Uhh, Weiss..." the Reaper said hesitantly, and the said Schnee turned in her direction, and saw the case open, but didn't see what was inside it, and thus marched up as she began scolding Ruby.

"You dolt! I swear if you break anything that is that case Dore will...be..." she stopped herself as she looked inside.

The armor was a near copy of Jaune's. Except it looked to be designed for a young woman about Dore's size. There were small noticeable lights where it showed it's Gear influence. But they also found a bronze circlet with emerald inlays.

They knew it well: Pyrrha always wore it.

"W-Weiss...isn't that Pyrrha's?" Ruby asked as she attempted to reach for it, only for Weiss grabbed her hand.

"Don't! We should get out of here before Dore comes back!" the Schnee said as she closed the case and a few clicks were heard as it locked itself. However before they can leave, they heard footsteps outside, causing their eyes to widen, "Let's go!"

Ruby wanted to know what the hell this was about, so she stopped Weiss by making her go out the window before the door opened. Through it came Dore, whose outfit was...

Covered in blood?

"Wha...Weiss, look at this!" The white-haired girl looked inside, finding Dore, covered in blood, trying to clean it off.

"Damned Gears." the fiery blonde growled out, "They never get the goddamned message!"

They hear a knock at the door, and Dore actually stiffened.

"W-Who is it?" she said cautiously,

"It's Professor Goodwitch, Miss Arkos." Came the voice of the Deputy Headmistress, "Professor Ozpin would like to see you."

Dore gulped slightly, before nodding "I-I understand!" She informed, "I-I'll be there in a minute!"

She stripped out of her armor, and headed to the bathroom washing her face and making sure she looked somewhat normal.

Ruby looked at Weiss in horror. "She...That's HUMAN blood." she whispered lowly so she wouldn't hear, "She KILLED those Gears?!"

"She was TRAINED by Gears!" Weiss reminded, "What did you expect; her to be nice? They kill their targets unless ordered!"

"I know, but still...," she tried to say.

"Look Ruby, I know you don't like the idea of killing someone, but to Gears, it's second nature to them," Weiss said, as they saw Dore come out of the bathroom, now dressed in regular clothes, which was a pair of jeans, a pair of low heeled lace up boots, and a brown leather jacket over a white tank top.

"I thought she could control that." Ruby said worriedly. Weiss shook her head sadly at that.

"In combat...a Gear does what they do best."

* * *

Dore entered the elevator, shivering. She killed and maimed so many...

She thought she could CONTROL that urge that the Gear training put into her. But when she entered combat, she just...went crazy. She didn't realize what she was doing until she was done. Next to her, was Goodwitch who looked at the girl with worry in her eyes, while her face remained expressionless.

The lift stopped at the top, and the doors opened, allowing them to exit. Dore saw Ozpin sitting at his desk, his hands folded in front of him, as he was looking at Dore as she entered. Her nerves now on full alert.

"Ah, Miss Arkos." Ozpin greeted firmly, "Welcome back. I'm sorry for calling you up."

"It's...not a problem, sir." Dore said, a little hesitantly which the Headmaster noticed.

"I believe otherwise." he said, making the girl more nervous, "I hoped I wouldn't have to call you up here again."

Dore was now fidgeting with her hand as she tried to calm down.

"...Is there a reason I'm here professor?" she asked, and Ozpin sighed as he brought up his scroll.

"As you know, I have cameras in the Emerald Forest." She paled.

"Yes, Miss Arkos, I watched your...little engagement with the Gears." He said as he read off the list on his scroll, "Five dead, 17 mortally wounded. As expected from someone trained by general Kylos himself."

Dore glared at the man for that.

"Do NOT bring him up." she growled out.

"I have no choice." Ozpin said bluntly, "You WERE trained by him, personally I might add. But that's not why I called you up here: a squad of dead Gears is not my problem...yet."

Dore winced at that.

"However...," she heard him say as she saw the troubled expression. "...the one thing I'm curious about...is this."

He then placed the scroll on his desk and pressed a tab.

The footage showed her slaughtering the Gears...familiarly, though. Bullets were being stopped from hitting her, as she levitated in the air, and used a storm of frozen leaves to knock the

"You are a Maiden. The Fall Maiden." Dore didn't bother to rebuke. "I presume you gained your power from the huntress who trained you. Don't bother denying it."

"...No, I won't. She gave me the power to do my mission." She said honestly, "Lady Blaze told me to use it in the most dire of situations. I doubt what the Gears who tried to catch me was a dire situation."

"From my point of view, it is," Ozpin said, as he stood and walked around and placed them on the now trembling girl. "However, this could be more problematic for you, once He finds out."

"The Gears won't bother. Anyone that has the ability to kill a Gear is listed and ordered not to engage unless ordered. And when ordered, they go for the kill. He wants me alive."

Ozpin sighed. "The Gears used to be less...forceful. It only got worse 25 years ago. They openly attacked hunters starting then. Before that, they were vocal, but they realized that the Grimm were the threat. I want to know...do you know why that happened?"

Dore shook her head, "No, I don't. All information regarding the Gears' past was destroyed during the Salem War." she said, "And He wouldn't tell me anything anyway, since all he was focused on was training me in fighting."

Ozpin nodded at that, "Let me tell you then," he said.

She sat down.

"25 years ago, the Allfathers undertook their last combat mission in the Grimm lands." He said, much to Dore's surprise and horror, having learned from her mentor that the Grimm Lands were no place for a human to go, Hunter or not, "Their goal was to destroy 'the source'. I told them to not go, but they didn't listen. They came in contact with-"

The sentence was finished by Dore.

"Salem. They were touched by her. Corrupted." Her eyes widened as she figured it out, "Oh, God."

Ozpin nodded. "They resisted. They fought it. And they won. But not without cost. At first, they were content with simply taking assignments from hunters. Now...they attack hunters on sight outside the cities."

Dore now immediately understood the Gears' near murderous animosity toward Hunters in general... they were corrupted and used, unknowingly, as pawns by Salem in order to sow discord and animosity between the two groups.

"Why weren't they detained then!?" she said in shock.

"You know how they are. They can't be held. Anyone that has tried dies. And the corruption can't be detected: it isn't killing them. How is it do you think Sapiens, a 70 year old man, can fight on par with a man in his 20s? It's keeping them alive. And fit."

"And destroying their minds!" And with the blind obedience, the Gears never question. No wonder Salem won and lost: she had partial control of the most powerful military on Remnant until she lost it.

"Yes, unfortunately," Ozpin stated, "But now, we need to keep an ever closer eye on you, which is why I am sending for my best agent Qrow. Normally, I would have him in the field gathering information, but now with this new revelation, we can't take any unnecessary risks. Also, I plan to inform the other Maidens of this development."

"Headmaster-"

"I told you this because you NEEDED to be informed." Ozpin stated, as his grip on Dore's shoulders tightened slightly, "I have to protect you from Salem until you can do what you were sent back to do, and I don't need you assassinating the Gears. They are victims as well."

And he was right. The Gears were victims of indoctrination training that left them obedient, but independent of thought, allowing them to be the ultimate warriors, but loyal to the Allfathers.

"We need to kill them." Dore stated, "For the Gears to be freed and fight against the Grimm...the Allfathers who founded them must die."

Ozpin sighed at that, knowing it was true. The Allfathers were the only ones of the gears that needed to perish, and allow fresh blood to take their place.

"Yes, unfortunately," he said mournfully, "However, not even you can hope to take on a dozen Allfathers by yourself. Maiden powers or not."

"I can if I can catch them off balance." The binary clone said confidently, "Alone, I can kill them."

"Maybe." Ozpin said, "But Sapiens will be the most difficult to kill. He is Allfather Prime, with the strongest will. Salem will strengthen him more."

"I beat him before." Dore said with steel in her voice, "I can kill him."

"Not yet, Miss Arkos." Ozpin said, shaking his head slightly, "Perhaps that is for someone else."

* * *

"She killed the Gears?" Blake said, as she and Yang just heard from Ruby and Weiss about what they saw and heard in Dore's room.

"Maybe!" Ruby said, the worry and shock in her tone, "Her armor was covered in blood."

Blake KNEW that shaking it was impossible. She fought like a Gear, indoctrination aside.

So it was no surprise that she would kill.

"She might've done it in self-defense, Rubes," Yang said, "After all, that Sapiens creep is still after her."

"But KILLING them?" Ruby said, clearly her innocent nature making her naive.

"Ruby, I'm going to tell you something." Blake stood up. "I've been on the other end of their Lancers. Allfather Goldsmith herself nearly killed me during one of the missions they went on. They do not show mercy. They do not show pity. Faunus and human, they don't care: all we are are targets to be protected or killed to them. While I'm not proud of my history with the White Fang, 542 people in the cell I was a part of DIED, torn to pieces by their chainsaws, impaled on bayonets or worse, captured. They. Do not. Care. Dore was trained by those mass murderers. Not to the extent of absolute obedience, but enough that she will kill if given the chance."

"...What happened to the people they captured?" Yang asked hesitantly.

Blake closed her eyes. "Put through the same indoctrination courses and brainwashed into becoming Gears. Why kill your enemy when you can convert them?"

The three girls were horrified at that.

"And Dore suffered under that?" Weiss said, "Why haven't the councils done anything?"

Blake looked at the Heiress and spoke, "Because, no matter the PR nightmare they'd have, no matter the people they kill, if they get the job done, then it doesn't matter. They're a Private Military, they're not tied to any of the kingdoms, they don't care for the publicity."

Weiss winced, the same excuses for the Faunus labor at the SDC coming forth. "And then there's the fact that no one knows. The White Fang have seen them, but honestly, their credibility went down the drain the moment they turned into a terrorist organization. Who would you believe? A bunch of terrorists, or a PMC that always gets the job done?"

"We get the point. The Gears don't lose. They gain no matter what." Yang glared at the sight of GNS Sovereign, floating in the harbor. "They're torturing people on that ship."

"Most likely. But no one knows. And no one will even believe."

* * *

Sapiens entered the room, watching as their special patient was treated. "Report."

"She's resisting, as usual." Said one of the medical staff, "We had to pump over 400 ccs of Yukon-A into her bloodstream this time."

Sapiens sighed, walking up to the prisoner.

"You know that your resistance will only make your family more of a target, yes? We spared them for a reason, you know. We can kill them any time."

"You... you stay away from them!" the said woman growled, their eyes glaring at him with murder in mind, "You already killed my best friend! I won't let you kill them too!"

Sapiens sighed as he approached the restrained HVT.

"Sorry my dear, but as long as you cooperate, they will be safe, including your daughter and her sister," he said, "And let's not forget about your dear brother, and his little pet,"

She glared at him, growling, but bowing her head. "Good girl. Doctor, pump her full of 3000 ccs of Yukon-B and Toron-F."

"Sir, that will kill her."

"It would kill a Gear." Sapiens countered, "But she is no Gear. Are you...Huntress?"

She snarled as the drugs entered her body, knocking her out. "I want her compliant. Nothing else. The moment she ceases to be of use, kill her."

* * *

 _ **Patriot-112: And another chapter done for this fic! Man, this was a crazy chapter. Oh, and we have a new guest.**_

 _ **117Jorn: Heyo everyone! Glad to finally be here!**_

 _ **RonthetrueFan: Oh boy, here we go…**_

 _ **Patriot-112: That's right. Jorn is back. And... things might get crazier in this fic.**_

 _ **117Jorn: *Grins like a mad man* Oh… there will be a reckoning when I'm done here… A Storm's a coming… and their name… heh, I ain't telling you… yet…**_

 _ **Patriot-112: Yeah, though hopefully it won't get too much out of control, and my plans for Dore, especially when we get to the area of Volume 3.**_

 _ **117Jorn: But until then…**_

 _ **Everyone: Ja Ne!**_


	4. Author's notice

_**Well! It's official people! You have spoken.**_

 _ **Time for a rewrite!**_

 _ **And this version will NOT have Gears. No weapons, armor, or anything from that Game series, NONE.**_

 _ **And I'm also making it clear, that Ron The True Fan, will NO LONGER do any future RWBY fics with me, EVER! Except the ones we're working, including this one. So specifically, the rewrite will be for those who I am intending to appease, while the original will stay the course.**_

 _ **Also, your reviews are coming in again, so you're free to write reviews instead of PMing.**_

 _ **Sorry for the inconvenience.**_

 _ **The Title will go under the phrase: Aurea Mors: Reforged.**_


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